The Croatian Foreign Ministry on Friday welcomed the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to declare inadmissible the applications filed by Slovenian fishermen against proceedings initiated by Croatia for a minor offence against them for trespassing and fishing in the Croatian part of the Piran Bay in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea

The Strasbourg-based ECHR ruled that the Slovenian fishermen’s complaints were inadmissible because the fishermen knew that the border with Croatia was in the centre of the bay.

The Ministry: Croatia’s maritime border is clearly defined in Croatian legislation

The Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs stated that the ECHR’s ruling, which was published on the court’s website on Thursday, shows that the Slovenian fishermen’s claims that Croatia violated their human rights were unfounded.

The ministry says the ECHR found that Croatia’s maritime border is clearly defined in Croatian legislation and that the Slovenian fishermen must have known that their behaviour violated Croatian law when they entered Piran Bay.

The Ministry recalls that Croatia was forced to initiate proceedings for a minor offence against Slovenian fishermen in return after Slovenia started fining Croatian fishermen in 2018.

The Ministry is pleased that the court found that Croatia’s actions did not violate the human rights of Slovenian fishermen.

Croatia expects that Slovenia is now willing to agree with it on a temporary regime in the bay until a final solution to the outstanding border issue is found.