Slovene Map Opposes Slovene Claims

Media in Slovenia have published the news of a map drafted by their geodesy experts from 1983, which determines the border at Mura River.

The Slovenian Institute of Geodetics published a map in 1983 which clearly shows the border that determines the left bank of the Mura River as territory of the Socialist Republic of Croatia, the Novi list newspaper reveals.

Nearly all Slovene media reported the news, but without official comments. Furthermore, Slovene analysts have still not looked back on “another disputable map”, as Slovenes call it in the papers. There are hundreds of comments under articles published online, mostly of dissatisfied readers, which are reduced to insulting and mocking the map.

The media write that the map was submitted to the documentation which Croatia has presented to European Union negotiators.

Slovenia claims that Croatia prejudiced the borders with Slovenia in its European Union accession talks, in several accession chapters. On the other hand, Croatian negotiators claim that the maps are only attached to assisting documents, which sere only as guidelines to EU negotiators.

The borders which are disputable are on the bank of the Mura River, at Piran Bay and the bank of the Dragonja River.

On Sunday, Slovene Prime Minister Borut Pahor said he advocates the EU accession conference, which is to take place in March, to be postponed for a few months, because they need time to solve the border issue. Still, Pahor dismissed the referendum on Croatian NATO accession.

At the same time, both countries are preparing for the announced mediation, i.e. a biased party will be introduced to help solve the border dispute, so that the accession talks can go on. This third party will most likely be former Finnish president and Nobel peace prize winner Martii Ahtisaari.