BORDER DISPUTE BETWEEN CROATIA AND SLOVENIA ALONG THE LOWER REACHES OF THE DRAGONJA RIVER
MEJNI SPOR MED HRVAŠKO IN SLOVENIJO OB SPODNJEM TOKU REKE DRAGONJE
Primož Pipan
The area along the lower reaches of the Dragonja River has been a border area and a contested area in the border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia since 1991.
Obmo~je ob spodnjem toku reke Dragonje je od 1991 dalje obmejna pokrajina in vro~a to~ka v mejnem sporu med Hrva{ko in Slovenijo.
Border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia along the lower reaches of the Dragonja River
DOI: 10.3986.AGS48205 UDC: 911.3:341.222(497.4:497.5) COBISS: 1.02
ABSTRACT:
The paper discusses border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia along the lower reaches of the Dragonja River, acute since the two countries gained independence in 1991. It is the most hotly contested border dispute point between the two countries except for the maritime border in Bay of Piran. The area with small villages of Mlini-Škrile, Bužini and Škodelin is known in the literature as the »area along the Dragonja River«, »the area of double records« or »the case of four villages«. The paper begins by describing reasons for the southern border of the Municipality of Piran from geographic and economic aspects. It focuses on changes of borders from the legal aspect between and after World War Two. Situation on site is described for the last 60 years, based on a field research. The paper concludes by outlining the principle of international law »uti possidetis« and its possible implications for the area in question.
KEY WORDS: political geography, borders, border disputes, Istria, Croatia, Slovenia, Uti possidetis.
The article was submitted for publication on October 13, 2008.
ADDRESS :
Primož Pipan, BSc Geography
Anton Melik Geographical Institute
Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Gosposka ulica 13, SI - 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia E-mail: primoz.pipan@zrc-sazu.si
Contents
1	Introduction	333
2	Methods	333
3	Historic economic conditions until
World War Two
4	Changes of borders of the Municipality
of Piran during and after World War Two
5	Decree and decisions of the RPCI, the area
of double records and consequences in space
334
336
338
342
343
343
344
6	A view from the field
7	Drnovšek-Račan agreement
8	Conclusion
9	Literature
1	Introduction
Borders in nature are generally clearly visible and recognisable, for example borders between sloping and flat terrain, the land and the sea, etc. Although they may be clear borders in abstract, their actual drawing in space brings out unforeseen problems. A border between areas is not always and is arguably never a completely straight line but is characterised primarily by unevenness and movement. A border between the land and the sea is a zone because of the tide and is marked by the term »shore« representing an interim part where the land and sea elements intertwine. A similar example is a border between sloping and flat terrain, between karst and non-karst terrain, etc. As the natural phenomena and elements tend to flow one into another, the urge to separate is a distinctly human trait (Bufon 1996, 177-178). The spatially wider term »fronteria« or »frontaria«, derived from Latin and marking a wider border area, was replaced in Europe in the 13th century with the term »granica«, a more linear term derived from Polish. Replacement of the zone concept of the border with a linear one reflected the transition from an offensive to defensive social and political system and a tendency towards definitive arrangement of own land and property, in short, a »controlled world« (Bufon 2001).
A result of the latter at the micro level was land cadastre as a geodetic term and land register as a legal term. The southern border of the Sečovlje Land Registry District, a part of the Municipality of Piran, is a source of the border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia. The issue came to the forefront after 1991 when the area - a part of the same cultural region - was divided by national border for the first time in history. During the era of the socialist Yugoslavia, the border was between two republics within a united Yugoslav federal entity (Pipan 2007). A border dispute regarding Bay of Piran (Piranski zaliv) appeared at the same time, which recently evolved in a dispute on even the geographic name as the Croatian side has been increasingly calling it Savudrijska vala (Kladnik, Pipan 2008).
The area along the lower reaches of the Dragonja River with villages Mlini-Škrile, Bužini and Škodelin, located before the river's mouth in Bay of Piran through the Canal of St. Odorick has since 1994 become known as the »case of four villages« and has been one of the most hotly contested points in the border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia because of determining of the base point for the future maritime border. According to data of the Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia the area has 113 hectares (Bela knjiga... 2006, 178) while Croatian data have the area covering 121 hectares (Klemenčič, Schofield 1995). Although various documents mention four villages there are today in fact only three. Beside the village Mlini the geographic name Škrile appears east of the Sečovelje-Plovanija major road.
The issue becomes a topic of interest in particular before an election in either country. Border issues in the lower reaches of the Dragonja River stepped to the forefront after May 1st, 2004 when Slovenia joined the European Union and after December 21st, 2007 when Slovenia became a part of the Schengen area. As a result of these two developments and after six decades of issues related to land cadastre and administration as well as following establishing of an international border, the area became external border of the European Union and the Schengen area. The paper outlines the reasons that brought to the border dispute and the issues related to the discussed area.
2	Methods
The border issue between Slovenia and Croatia in the disputed area along the lower reaches of the Dragonja River has already been discussed from the geographic and historic aspect in a number of papers and documents by Slovene, Croatian and foreign authors (Klemenčič and Schofield 1995; Blake and Topalovič 1996; Gosar and Klemenčič 2000; Darovec and Gosar 2004; Kristen 2006; Mihelič 2007). Although the conditions for determining the border are created by geography and history, they are laid down in a legal document. The paper's intention is to find which legal document made both Slovenia and Croatia claim the disputed border area. I have examined documents in geography, history and international law as well as official journals and also relied on maps. Because of the intent for an in-depth view of the situation in the field and in relation to the cadastre, administrative and functional issues of the discussed area, interviews were the method I used. I have interviewed five people living in the studied area and adjacent areas. Interviews were carried out in April and May 2004. Due to changes in the border regime related to Slovenian entry in the European Union and the Schengen area some of them were interviewed again in 2006.
3 Historic economic conditions until World War Two
The historic reason for the border dispute lies in changes of borders of the Municipality of Piran. Its cadastre borders were the result of miscellaneous use of land by various local communities. Centuries of economic development based on local resources left the borders relatively stable until the end of World War Two. Salt making and fishing stand out among economic activities affecting their appearance. As the paper does not discuss the maritime border only the role of salt making will be presented in greater detail.
The Sečovlje saltpans are a part of the Piran saltpans together with those in Strunjan and former ones in Lucija. Salt making in Piran probably started in the Antiquity as the first written records on it date back to the 13th century.
The saltpans appeared at a watercourse's mouth in the sea as was the case with other saltpans in the northern Adriatic. It was a prerequisite for saltpans. Fluvial erosion has been determinedly lowering the Šavrinska brda hills made from Eocene flysch and washing material to the Dragonja River basin. The material is being deposited in the alluvial plain at the river's mouth in Bay of Piran (Zorn 2008).
As the Dragonja River increasingly deposited its delta in the bay, salt makers expanded saltpans from the east towards the west as the new plain emerged. Location of the saltpans was gradually moved towards the sea and the released hinterland areas were used for agriculture (Savnik 1951; Križan 1990; Darovec2001; Črnivec, Pipan, Žabjek 2006).
The most important technological milestone in their operations occurred in 1377 when they began to produce »petola« at the bottom of kavedini or crystallisation pools under the influence of salt makers from the Island of Pag in Dalmatia. Petola is a special naturally produced base from gypsum created by microorganisms, mixed with surface mud and preventing mixing of salt with mud. Afterwards, the Piran
Figure 1: The Municipality of Piran in the past encompassed the Savudrija and Kaštel land registry districts (Piano Topografico... 1882).
Figure 2: Administrative division of Istria, 1926-1945 (Cermelj 1945; Darovec 1992,59), for the Municipality of Piran it applies until 1947 when the Free Territory of Trieste was established.
salt has been due to extreme quality of petola crystal clear, white and of fine taste, without any addition of sand and other impurities. Because of very high quality, »white gold« was sold further inland as well as to the rest of Europe and even the Middle East (Bonin 2001). Piran's economic development was based on production and trade in »white gold« for centuries. When Piran accepted Venetian authority as the last town in Istria in 1283, it became a part of the Venetian effort for establishing monopoly over the salt trade (Holz 2001).
The importance of the Se~ovlje saltpans for the Venetian Republic is illustrated by the fact that the bulk of its salt was produced at the Piran saltpans. Together with saltpans in Trieste, Muggia, Koper, Rab, Pag, Ston and Ulcinj that constituted as much as 1/3 of salt production on the eastern Adriatic coast. For centuries salt has been a strategic material as it was the main ingredient for food preservation. Salt trade flourished in particular after 1578 when Venetians damaged saltpans in Trieste due to an economic dispute with the Habsburg Empire which led to final demise of those saltpans in 1617. After abolition of the Venetian Republic, the French introduced complete state monopoly on salt in Illyrian provinces. The market shrank considerably as the French authorities prohibited sale of salt to Austrian lands, sea export routes were blocked because of the English naval blockade and cheaper French salt was sold on markets in Lombardy and Friuli.
As Austrian power returned, state monopoly on salt was re-established in the entire Habsburg Empire in 1827 and remained in place until the beginning of the 20th century. Because of good quality salt was sold to Turkey and individual traders sold it even to North and South America, India and Scandinavia (Bonin 1992).
Work in saltpans was distinctly seasonal. The winter was the time to rebuild saltpans embankments and deepen canals while the summer was the time to harvest salt. As several hundred people lived and worked in the saltpans during the summer the second important condition for operation of the saltpans was adequate quality supply of drinking water. Watercourses flowing towards the Se~ovlje saltpans from (water impermeable) flysch [avrinska brda from the north and east proved to be an unreliable source of supply as they have Sub-Mediterranean water regime characterised by torrent features and dry beds during
the summer. The only permanent source of quality drinking water was numerous karst springs at the joint of the aquifer of Buje karst with the alluvial plain of the Dragonja River on the southern side of the Se~ovlje saltpans. Salt makers went there daily to fetch water with wooden or clay vessels. One of such springs was for example Fontanele (Starec 2001, 127). A number of fresh water springs was in the sea along the Savudrija peninsula where salt and fresh water mix under the water. Two larger such springs are Velika Luknja and Mala Luknja (Orožen Adami~ 1980, 162).
Because of the strategic importance of supplying saltpans with drinking water from springs under the Buje karst, the Municipality of Piran has long ago took under its wings the nearby hinterland of the sloping area of the Se~ovlje saltpans in the Buje karst and the Savudrija peninsula, as presented in Figures 1 and 2.
4 Changes of borders of the Municipality of Piran during and after World War Two
The reasons for changes of the southern border of the Municipality in Piran date back to World War Two when the future border between Slovenia and Croatia in Istria began to emerge. Slovene National Liberation Council (SNOS) established the Scientific Institute chaired by Dr. Fran Zwitter for the purpose of preparing bases for Slovene state borders after the war. People working for the Scientific Institute focused in planning of borders after the war primarily on studies of the Slovene-Italian, Slovene-German and Slovene-Hungarian ethnic borders while leaving the border with Croats aside as unproblematic (Miheli~ 2007, 149).
Studies for determining the bases for the border with Croatia in Istria were not based on field research but on historic literature of an older date. They simply relied on the »Map of Slovene Land and Regions« issued by Peter Kozler in 1853. The reason for such decision was widespread unfamiliarity with the situation in the field as Slovene scientists were unable to study the area between the two world wars because it was Italian territory.
Minutes are preserved for as many as six meetings of the Scientific Institute, held at 13-23 Base on January 26th, 1944 probably at 13-23 Base on January 7th, 1944, in Črnomelj on February 22nd, 1944, in Semi~ on March 20th, 1944, in Črnomelj on May 1st, 1944 and in Semi~ on June 30th, 1944. There was also a special meeting held on March 20th, 1944 attended by 19 invited people including external experts of the Institute (Škerl 1965, 36).
Dušan Fatur, MSc, established on the basis of written material from meetings of the Scientific Institute and the SNOS that if 100 hours were spent speaking about the border, Istria would be given mere 20 minutes (Arhiv Ministrstva... 2008).
One of the results of those meetings was a map with the proposed border between Slovenia and Croatia in Istria prepared by Dr. Fran Zwitter. He used the map »Administrative Division of Istria« from 1918 as the basis presenting land registry districts on which names of land registry districts are in Croatian. The map has with a blue & red teachers' pen drawn two versions of the border in Istria with regard to whether land registry districts Topolovec, Gradin, Socerga, Movraž, Črnica and Rakitovec belong to Slovenia or Croatia, while in the area of the lower reaches of the Dragonja River there is a single line drawn. The line is in the valley of the Dragonja River but not on the river itself but on the southern border of what was then the Piran Land Registry District (Figure 3). The map is kept by the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia (AS 1420).
Already in 1943 there were misunderstandings between Slovene and Croatian partisan units and the population regarding military actions, supplies and mobilisation. To settle the differences the Croatian organisation initiated a meeting between the secretary of the regional committee of the Liberation Front, Milan Gucek, and a representative of the regional committee of the Communist Party of Croatia, Andrija Babic, which was held in the village Malija, house no. 10, on February 10th, 1944, three days after the first meeting of the Scientific Institute. The result of the meeting was an agreement on division of areas of military operations of both liberation movements. Milan Gucek stated the following in his memoirs: »... Andrija and I were leaning above a map and had no problem in finding an understanding. The border
Figure 3: Proposed border between Slovenia and Croatia in Istria prepared by Dr. Fran Zwitter (AS 1420). p
Figure 4: Section from the map from enclosure in the book Cadastre national de l'Istrie (Cadastre... 1945; Darovec 1992, 74)
will be where the territory ends and people still speak distinctly Slovene. That's how far the organisation of our Liberation Front extended, there people themselves felt Slovenes. And we drawn the border and assessed villages as we went. We began at the mouth of the Dragonja River in the sea from the end of the Sečovlje saltpans, then we went along the course of this small river to the village Topolovec, then southeast under the village Pregara, towards the east above Štrped before Buzet and towards Vodice. We shook hands. There will be no more misunderstandings as to where something belongs. Perhaps we even did some work for future borders of the two republics. Who knows?...« (Gu~ek 1959; Marin 1998).
The agreement was made independently from the Scientific Institute and is not in accordance with the Zwitter's map (Figure 3). This division of areas of military operations between Slovene and Croatian partisan armies was also the first ethnic division of Istria between Slovenes and Croats. Despite the division of areas of military operations problems still arose in particular because of attempts by Croatian partisan unit to mobilise Slovene population across the line of organisational territory delimitation (Celar 2002).
The peace treaty with Italy was signed in Paris on February 10th, 1947 entering into force on September 15th, 1947, on the same date the Free Territory of Trieste (FTT) was established. The legislative body of the B Zone of the FTT, which was under military administration of the Yugoslav Army was the Regional People's Committee of Istria (RPCI). The B zone was divided into two districts, Koper and Buje. The previously united Municipality of Piran was also divided between the two districts. In accordance with a decision of the Scientific Institute regarding the border in the valley of the Dragonja River, land registry districts Savudrija and Ka{tel, which were previously administratively a part of the Municipality of Piran, were now part of the Croatian Municipality of Buje, in the Buje district (Figure 4). Land registers for both land registry districts were transferred from the court in Piran to the court in Buje.
5 Decree and decisions of the RPCI, the area of double records and consequences in space
Contrary to the position of the Scientific Institute as well the cadastre principle and probably under influence of the Gu~ek-Babi} agreement, the Decree on people's courts in the Istria Region, published in the first
issue of the Official Gazette of the Regional People's Committee of Istria (RPCI) dated September 1st, 1947, set the border on the Dragonja River. The jurisdiction over the territory south of the Dragonja River (including a part of the Piran III Land Registry District south of the Dragonja River) was transferred from the court in Piran to the court in Buje. Article 10 reads: »... The People's District Court of Buje shall have jurisdiction over the judicial territory as applied previously and the People's District Courts of Piran and of Koper shall have jurisdiction over the same judicial territories as before the abolishment of the independent district court in Piran, however only north of the Dragonja River...« (Odlok... 1947).
Because of several centuries of links of people along the Dragonja River with the Municipality of Piran, inhabitants of Mlini stood against the Decree in 1948 and requested to be again placed in Slovenia, under the Local People's Committee (LPC) of Sečovlje and thus under the District Court of Piran.
The request of inhabitants of Mlini was granted by a decision of the 5th regular meeting of the RPCI held in Piran on June 29th, 1948. Minutes of the meeting were published in the 6th issue of the 2nd year of the Official Gazette of the Yugoslav Military Administration of the Yugoslav zone of the FTT and the RPCI dated October 30th, 1948. Article 3 regulating organisational issues reads as follows: »... Secretary of the Executive Committee, comrade Laurenti Eugenio reported on organisational changes in bodies of the people's authorities and then presented the current situation in delimitation between local people's committees. Before closing he presented a letter from inhabitants of the village Mulini (Sv. Odorik) asking the RPCI to permit them exclusion from the LPC Kaštel, Buje District, and inclusion in the LPC Sičjole where they have both economic and cultural links. The application is granted by unanimous vote and the entire report of comrade Laurenti is approved unanimously...« (Zapisnik V... 1948).
A good year after the same is requested by inhabitants of Bužini and Škodelin. Their request was granted by a decision of the 8th regular meeting of the RPCI held in Koper on July 18th, 1949. Minutes of the meeting were published in the 1st issue of the 4th year of the Official Gazette of the Yugoslav Military Administration of the Yugoslav zone of the FTT and the RPCI dated January 25th, 1950. Article 9c reads as follows: ».Apart of the village Božini with house numbers 1019 and 1020, LPC Kaštel, Buje District, shall be joined with the village Božini in LPC Sečovlje, Koper District.« (Zapisnik VIII... 1950).
Figure 5: »Koper Region« from personal collection of Boris Kraigher on which the Koper Cadastre Office on February 23rd, 1952 marked the southwestern border of the Koper Region on the land registry district's border and not on the Dragonja River. (AS 1529,9).
Both decisions »annulling« the preceding decree were adopted, as was the decree itself, by the body governing the B Zone of the FTT. They were published in the same publication issued in all three official languages of the B Zone of the FTT, namely Croatian, Italian and Slovene. The decisions of the RPCI again extended the area of the Municipality of Piran and the Piran III Land Registry District, renamed the Sečovlje Land Registry District in 1953, to the narrow strip of land south of the Dragonja River and the Canal of St. Odorick to the border with the land registry districts of Savudrija and Kaštel, which is on a relief bend between the alluvial plain of the Dragonja River and the sloping terrain of the Buje karst. Interesting is the map »Koper Region« (Okraj Koper) (Figure 5) from the personal collection of Boris Kraigher in relation to the Trieste issue in 1954, when he was already the chairman of the Executive Council of the People's Assembly of the People's Republic of Slovenia, kept by Archives of Slovenia. The map presents a proposal of new administrative territorial division of the RPC Koper and was prepared by the Koper Cadastre Office on February 23rd, 1952. On the map the southwestern border of the Koper Region is not on the Dragonja River but on the southern border of the Piran III Land Registry District. (AS 1529, 9).
On the basis of the Memorandum of Understanding or the second London agreement dated October 5th, 1954, Italian civil administration was extended with minor territorial corrections to the A Zone of the FTT and the Yugoslav to the B Zone of the FTT. The Memorandum was followed by the Yugoslav federal Act on Application of the Constitution, Laws and other Federal Regulations in the B Zone of the FTT, dated October 27th, 1954 and as a result of an international agreement the civil administration of the Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia extended to the B Zone with the Act placing the Koper Region in Slovenia and the Buje Region in Croatia (Zakon o veljavi ustave ... 1954). The Act on Application of the Constitution, Laws and other Regulations in the Koper Region dated November 4th, 1954 extended Slovenian jurisdiction to the newly acquired territory (Zakon o razširitvi... 1954). The Act on Areas of Regions and Municipalities dated June 30th, 1955 laid down the land registry districts constituting the territory of Slovenia. The entire Sečovlje Land Registry District, including the area south of the Dragonja River, was included in Slovenia (Zakon o območjih ... 1955).
These laws did not speak of borders but only of territories as it was deemed that the border has been established with the decree and decisions of the RPCI. Changes on the border between Slovenia and Croatia in Istria between 1945 and 1956 were among the most dynamic on the entire border between the two republics. Although the two decisions of the RPCI were never revoked, Croatia never fully abided by them. The source of misunderstanding lies in non-recognition of validity of decisions of the RPCI with regard to the decree of the RPCI as Croatia stands on the position that from the legal point of view a decision is
Figure 6: The area of double records between Slovenia and Croatia on land along the Dragonja River.
hierarchically lower than a decree. Croatia claims that the decree of the RPCI should be amended only by a new decree of the RPCI. On the basis of decisions of the RPCI and despite numerous requests of Croatia neither land register nor cadastre (for the part of the Sečovlje Land Registry District south of the Dragonja River) were transferred from Piran to Buje. Therefore we can call this part the area of double records as it exists in miscellaneous records of the Slovenian Municipality of Piran as well as the Croatian Municipality of Buje.
As the area is a part of the Municipality of Piran in terms of cadastre and is kept in the records of the Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia, it had a specific land use laid down, which conflicts with that laid down by Croatia. Land lots in the disputed area are entered in the Piran cadastre, which has archive data and the land register with files. Croatia entered the area in the land register in Buje between 1992 and 1994 (Velkavrh 1998, p. 84-86).
The old bed of the Dragonja River divides the Sečovlje saltpans to the north, still active area of Lera and south abandoned Fontanigge. The latter where the Medieval method of salt making was preserved until the end, the production ceased in 1967 because it was no longer economical. Numerous birds and other animals and plants gradually found their permanent or temporary shelter in abandoned Fontanigge. The saltpans, which used to be primarily an economic category, entered the era in which other values, such as cultural and natural heritage, recreation and spare time, came to the forefront. The Municipality of Piran established the Sečovlje Saltpans Landscape Park on January 26th, 1990. A natural reserve specified in the decree as a part of the park is also the »Stare soline« located on the southern bank of the Canal of St. Odorick, right before the canal flows into Bay of Piran (Odlok o razglasitvi Krajinskega parka... 1990). The reserve has a special significance for the landscape park as it is, along with the reserve »Ob rudniku«, the most important fish spawning ground in the park. A part of the Sečovlje saltpans was due to exceptional landscape and environmental value included in 1993 as the first wetland in Slovenia on the list of Ramsar sites under the UNESCO Convention on Wetlands. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the Decree on the Sečovlje Saltpans Landscape Park on April 5th, 2001 at the initiative of the Ministry of Culture and the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Piran (Uredba o Krajinskem parku .2001). The protection of the Sečovlje saltpans and the salt-making museum was thus raised from municipal to the national level. Although the area south of the Canal of St. Odorick is also a part of the Sečovlje Saltpans Landscape Park, it has not been managed by it in practice since 1991 as the only access is via the Croatian Plovanija border crossing, which the Croatian border authorities would not permit. The situation has remained unchanged to the present even though the national government took over the park from the municipality in 2001. An example of conflicts in land use is also that a part of the disputed area on the southern bank of the Canal of St. Odorick is specified as a bird reserve in documents of the Sečovlje Saltpans Landscape Park. The Municipality of Buje earmarked the same area as a hunting ground.
Between June 10th and 26th, 1991, Slovenia began with the preparatory construction work for construction of the Slovenian Sečovlje international border crossing on a location south of the Dragonja River where the Croatian Plovanija international border crossing is currently located. Material to be used for levelling of the terrain for the future border crossing was brought to the location on 56 trucks. On June 21st, four days before independence, the Croatian side strongly objected saying that Slovenia is building the facility on Croatian territory. After several hours of telephone conversations, a decision was taken in Ljubljana to withdraw construction workers. It was a difficult but correct government decision as Belgrade was at that time strongly opposed to building border crossings on the border between the two republics. If an open conflict had occurred near Sečovlje it could give an excellent pretext to the Yugoslav army to launch its intervention few days earlier than it actually happened. Slovenia later built a temporary Sečovlje border crossing on the northern bank of the Dragonja River. Croatia completed the Plovanija international road border crossing in 1993. The Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs protested several times about the issue and despite guarantees from the Croatian side that the location was only temporary it has been proven to be the final location (Žokalj Jesih 2005,14).
The National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the Establishment of Municipalities and Municipal Boundaries Act on October 3rd, 1994 under which a part of the Municipality of Piran is also villages of Škodelin, Bužini, Škrile and Mlini (Zakon o ustanovitvi... 1994). Croatia calls those villages Škudelin, Bužin, Škrilje and Mlini. Croatia deems the territory to be its own and also has de facto control over it. From the Croatian perspective of the time (Serbian occupation of Slavonia and Krajina and
presence of UN troops on its soil) the act was understood as a radical change of Slovenian foreign policy and interpreted as unilateral annexation of land (Klemenčic, Schofield 1995). After strong reactions from the Republic of Croatia and in order to avoid further escalation of the conflict, the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, upon a request from the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Slovenia, in its Act on Amendments and Supplements to the Establishment of Municipalities and Municipal Boundaries Act of October 28th, 1994 in Article 2 suspended application of all provisions of only fifteen days old Establishment of Municipalities and Municipal Boundaries Act related to the villages Bužini, Škodelin and Škrile (Zakon o spremembah ... 1994).
6 A view from the field
According to data from the 1991 census 53 people in 17 households were living in villages south of the Dragonja River (Klemenčic, Schofield 1995). From the aspect of daily migrations those people were always linked to Slovenia as they went to school, work and shopping there. They were included in censuses in Croatia and also voted there. They did not get an invitation to vote on the referendum for independence in Slovenia in 1990 and also did not attend referendums and elections in independent Slovenia as they were included in the Croatian population register. During the Yugoslav era they had Croatian ID cards and driving licences and their Yugoslav passports were issued in Croatia. Even during the first years of independence of both countries they were connected to the Slovenian power grid (Bela knjiga... 2006, 178), and telephone and water supply networks while postal services were rendered to them by the Slovenian post in Sečovlje.
According to one of the surveyed people staff of the post in Sečovlje regularly delivered mail to all discussed villages south of the Dragonja River until 1984. Then one day the post manager decided that people from the studied villages should personally collect their mail at the post office in Sečovlje. The reason for such administrative decision was supposedly sick leave of the postman in charge of the district and heavy workload of his colleagues who would be unable to deliver mail to villages south of the Dragonja River due to time constraints. The temporary decision gradually turned out to be final in practice. Today the Croatian Post delivers mail there. The majority of inhabitants still collects personally post from Slovenia at the post office in Sečovlje.
A part of the village Mlini situated on the left bank of the Dragonja River was connected to the Croatian telephone network in 1993 when cables for the Plovanija border crossing were placed. The village Škodelin was connected to the Croatian telephone network in 1995. There was an interesting case in Škodelin where one of the surveyed people said that subscribers were promised upon connection that: »... You will have local tariffs with Koper and pay as if you had Slovenian...«. The promise of local tariffs made by the Croatian Telecom applied until 2000 when Slovenian Telecom introduced the new system of regional codes. The previous regional code »066« applicable for the Koper area since the Yugoslav era was changed to the regional code »05«. Inhabitants of the discussed villages who made the same amount of phone calls to Slovenia after the renumbering of regional codes were after the first month unpleasantly surprised by significantly higher bills from the Croatian Telecom (€ 65-80) as all calls were charged as international.
In practice nearly all inhabitants of the villages south of the Dragonja River have permanent residence registered at a relative or friend in the Municipality of Piran and they still daily migrate to work, school and shopping there. They have Slovenian as well as Croatian citizenship.
A part of the village Mlini (7 houses) located south of the Dragonja River and west of the Sečovlje-Plo-vanija major road were given house numbers of Sečovlje in 1999. Only Mr. Joško Joras placed the Sečovlje no. 1 house number marking on his house.
On the basis of the land register in Piran land owners in the disputed area pay cadastral income to Slovenia and renters pay their rents to the Farm Land and Forest Fund of the Republic of Slovenia. Problems arise when the Municipality of Buje sells the same land to other people resulting in disputes between two owners or renters of the same land.
In spite of everything a number of people living in the Sečovlje Land Registry District south of the Dragonja River where villages Bužini, Mlini, Škodelin and Škrile are located have preserved their Slovene identity (Mihelič 2007, 150).
7	Drnovšek-Račan agreement
The most serious attempt to establish the border between the two countries so far that included the disputed area along the Dragonja River was the so-called Drnovšek-Račan agreement (they were prime ministers at the time). Governments of Slovenia and Croatia approved the Agreement on the Common Border between the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Croatia on July 19th, 2001. Although the two governments signed the Agreement on the next day (July 20th, 2001) ratification never took place because of strong opposition of Croatian legal experts.
The grounds for determining land border were border as at the date of independence of both countries, June 25th, 1991. Determining the border along the Dragonja River was the toughest task. The two countries agreed that the border between them in the discussed area is determined by the bed of the Dragonja River. The entire disputed 113 hectares ofland (including a part of the Sečovlje saltpans south of the Dragonja River), which are officially still entered in the land cadastre of Piran and de facto controlled by Croatia were to become Croatian under the Agreement. This meant that all disputed villages: Bužini, Škodelin and Škrile (as well as a part of Mlini) with 20 houses and roughly 60 inhabitants were to become Croatian. As regards the inhabitants the Agreement stipulated certain benefits greater than those provided by the Agreement between the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Croatia on Border Traffic and Cooperation (SOPS) from 2001. They would be exempt from customs and other duties when importing from Slovenia, they would be able to obtain Slovenian citizenship and Slovenia would enable them to use health care, educational and other services in its territory. Additionally, Croatia agreed that Slovenia could continue to pump drinking water from two drinking pumping stations (Bužini and Gabrijeli) for 30 years. The Agreement for the area took into account a number of environmental and protection of nature measures and principles (Ivanc 2001; Šlamberger 2001; Šuligoj 2001).
Based on the fact that the Agreement gave the discussed disputed land area south of the Dragonja River to Croatia and in line with the previous position of Croatia, Slovenia would be appropriately compensated on the entire maritime border.
8	Conclusion
The grounds for determining national borders between former republics of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia after its disintegration were opinions of the Arbitration Committee of the Conference on Yugoslavia, which dealt with resolving of open issues of future relations between the republics and was chaired by the President of the French Constitutional Court Robert Badinter. The arbitration opinion no. 3 states that »internal borders between former republics may not be altered except by agreement freely arrived at. Except where otherwise agreed, the former boundaries become frontiers protected by international law. This conclusion follows from the principle of respect for the territorial status quo and, in particular, from the principle of utipossidetis« (Celar 2002, 160).
The principle »uti possidetis« was initially applied in settling decolonisation issues in America and Africa. »Uti possidetis iuris« will be applied if delimitation is legally determined as was for example the land delimitation between administrative federal units (socialist republics) of the former Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. In such a case there is a legal title on the basis of which the legal situation before the critical date (June 25th, 1991) can be determined (Türk 2007, 413-414). The International Court of Justice determined the legal title as: a) succession of new countries with regard to former colonial power in relation to a particular area; b) decrees of former colonial power placing particular area in a certain administrative unit; c) marking for evidence on the basis of which a conclusion can be made that a particular country is entitled to the area (Šebenik 2007, 832). The principle »uti possidetis de facto« will be applied if the original delimitation was not legally determined but existed in practice (Türk 2007, 413-414).
In the opinion of the International Court of Justice this means acts of administrative authorities as evidence of de facto territorial jurisdiction in a particular area in the colonial period (Šebenik 2007, 832). »... In the case of difference between the legal title and the actual situation, the legal title shall in principle prevail, however the Court shall in any case specifically examine whether the countries' acts resulted in changes in legal title...« (Šebenik 2007, 837).
Facts show that status quo has not been preserved in the disputed area south of the Dragonja River after June 25th, 1991. Changes have occurred that have not been agreed upon by both involved parties. There are several methods of arbitration available to settle the border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia (Zgonec-Rožej, 2003). It would be recommendable if the »justice principle« was applied in settling of this dispute on the basis of which for example the Holy See in 1984 mediated in more than 200 years old dispute between Argentina and Chile and recommended the border in the Beagle Channel and on an extensive sea area in the south of South America.
An example of successful direct negotiations between two sides is certainly the Osimo Agreement signed after long secret negotiations between Yugoslavia and Italy in Osimo near Ancona on November 10th, 1975. The border between Yugoslavia and Italy was thus confirmed 30 years after the border dispute and 21 years after the end of Anglo-American military administration in the FTT. Settling of border disputes takes a long time and if the Osimo Agreement was taken as a positive example, Croatia and Slovenia would have until 2021, i. e. 13 years to settle the dispute on their own.
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Mejni spor med Hrvaško in Slovenijo ob spodnjem toku reke Dragonje
DOI: 10.3986.AGS48205 UDK: 911.3:341.222(497.4:497.5) COBISS: 1.02
IZVLEČEK: Članek obravnava mejni spor med Hrvaško in Slovenijo ob spodnjem toku reke Dragonje, ki je postal aktualen po osamosvojitvi obeh držav leta 1991. Ob določitvi morske meje v Piranskem zalivu je to najbolj vroča mejna točka na meji med državama. Območje z zaselki Mlini-Škrile, Bužini in Škodelin literatura imenuje »območje ob Dragonji«, »območje dvojne evidence« ali »primer štirih naselij«. Članek najprej oriše razloge za nastanek južne meje občine Piran z geografskega in gospodarskega vidika. Osredotoči se na spremembe meje s pravnega vidika v času med in po drugi svetovni vojni. Na podlagi terenske raziskave opiše dejansko stanje na terenu v obdobju zadnjih 60 let. V sklepu oriše mednarodnopravno načelo »uti possideti« in njegove morebitne implikacije na obravnavano območje.
KLJUČNE BESEDE: politična geografija, meje, mejni spori, Istra, Hrvaška, Slovenija, Uti possidetis.
Uredništvo je prejelo prispevek 13. oktobra 2008.
NASLOV:
Primož Pipan, univ. dipl. geograf
Geografski inštitut Antona Melika
Znanstvenoraziskovalni center Slovenske akademije znanosti in umetnosti Gosposka ulica 13, SI - 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia E-mail: primoz.pipan@zrc-sazu.si
Vsebina
1	Uvod
2	Metode
3	Zgodovinsko-gospodarske razmere
do druge svetovne vojne
4	Spremembe meje občine Piran med
in po drugi svetovni vojni
5	Odlok in sklepa IOLO, območje dvojne
evidence in njene posledice v prostoru
6	Pogled s terena
7	Sporazum Drnovšek-Račan
8	Sklep
9	Literatura
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349
350
351
352
354
355
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356
1	Uvod
Meje v naravi so običajno dobro razvidne in prepoznavne, na primer meje med vzpetim in nizkim svetom, med morjem in kopnim itd. Kljub temu, da so to pojmovno jasne meje, pa naletimo pri njihovem konkretnem začrtovanju v prostoru na neslutene težave. Meja med posameznimi območji ni vselej ali celo nikoli povsem ravna črta, ampak jo označujeta zlasti neenakomernost in premičnost. Meja med morjem in kopnim je zaradi valovanja in plimovanja conalna in jo podajamo z izrazom »obala«, ki ponazarja nekakšen vmesni del, kjer prihaja do prepletanja tako kopnih kot morskih elementov. Podoben primer je meja med vzpetim in nizkim svetom, med kraškim in nekraškim svetom in še bi lahko naštevali. Ker se posamezni pojavi in elementi v naravi prelivajo drug v drugega, je delitvena potreba izrazito človeška (Bufon 1996, 177-178). Od 13. stoletja dalje se je v Evropi namesto prostorsko širšega iz latinščine izhajajočega izraza »fronteria« ali »frontaria«, ki označuje širše obmejno območje, uveljavil bolj linearni termin »granica«, ki izhaja iz poljščine. Nadomeščanje conalnega koncepta meje z linearnim izraža prehod od ofenzivnega k defenzivnemu družbeno-političnemu sistemu in težnjo po defenitivnem urejanju lastne zemlje, posesti, skratka »obvladanega sveta« (Bufon 2001).
Izraz slednjega na mikro ravni sta zemljiški kataster kot geodetski pojem in zemljiška knjiga kot sodni pojem. Južna meja katastrske občine Sečovlje, ki spada v občino Piran, je vir mejnega spora med Slovenijo in Hrvaško. Problem je stopil v ospredje po letu 1991, ko je obravnavano območje, kjer gre za isto kulturno pokrajino, prvič v zgodovini razdelila državna meja. V obdobju SFRJ je bila to namreč republiška meja med republikama znotraj enotne federalne jugoslovanske tvorbe (Pipan 2007). V istem obdobju se je pojavil še mejni spor v Piranskem zalivu, v zadnjem obdobju pa celo o njegovom zemljepisnem poimenovanju, saj ga hrvaška stan vse pogosteje imenuje Savudrijska Vala (Kladnik in Pipan 2008).
Območje ob spodnjem toku reke Dragonje, z zaselki Mlini-Škrile, Bužini in Škodelin, pred njenim izlivom v Piranski zaliv po kanalu Sv. Odorika, je po letu 1994 postalo znano kot »primer štirih naselij« in je zaradi določanja izhodiščne točke za določitev bodoče meje na morju ena izmed najbolj vročih točk v mejnem sporu med Slovenijo in Hrvaško. Po podatkih Geodetske uprave Republike Slovenije ozemlje meri 113 hektarov (Bela knjiga... 2006, 178), po hrvaških podatkih pa naj bi merilo 121 hektarov (Klemenčič, Schofield 1995). Kljub temu da različni dokumenti omenjajo štiri naselja, danes dejansko obstajajo trije zaselki. Poleg zaselka Mlini se vzhodno od magistralne ceste Sečovelje-Plovanija pojavlja zemljepisno ime Škrile.
Do občutno povečanega zanimanja v zvezi s problematiko obravnavanega območja prihaja v obdobju pred volitvami v eni ali drugi državi. Mejni problem ob spodnji Dragonji je bil večje pozornosti deležen po 1.5.2004 z vstopom Slovenije v Evropsko unijo in po 21.12.2007 z vstopom Slovenije v schengenski prostor. S tema dejanjema je območje, po šestih desetletjih navzkrižij z vidika katastra in administracije, po nedavno nastali mednarodni meji med državama, doletela še zunanja meja Evropske unije in schengenskega prostora. Članek oriše vzroke, ki so pripeljali do mejnega spora in opiše problematiko na obravnavanem območju.
2	Metode
Mejni problem med Slovenijo in Hrvaško na spornem območju ob spodnji Dragonji so z geografskega in zgodovinskega vidika v svojih člankih in delih obravnavali že številni slovenski, hrvaški in tuji avtorji (Klemenčič in Schofield 1995; Blake in Topalovič 1996; Gosar in Klemenčič 2000; Darovec in Gosar 2004; Kristen 2006; Mihelič 2007). Četudi pogoje za določanje meje ustvarjata geografija in zgodovina, so ti določeni s pravnim aktom. Namen članka je raziskati kateri pravni akt je vplival na to, da si tako Slovenija kot Hrvaška lastita sporno obmejno območje. Pregledal sem literaturo s področja geografije, zgodovine, mednarodnega prava in Uradnih listov, poudarek pa je tudi na kartografskem gradivu. Zaradi želje po globljem vpogledu v dejansko stanje na terenu v zvezi s katastrsko, administrativno in funkcionalno problematiko obravnavanega območja sem kot metodo uporabil intervju. Na proučevanem območju in v njegovi neposredni soseščini sem intervjuval 5 prebivalcev. Intervjuji so bili opravljeni v aprilu in maju 2004. Zaradi sprememb v zvezi z mejnim režimom povezanih z vstopom Slovenije v Evropsko unijo in schengensko območje so bili nekateri izmed njih ponovno intervjuvani leta 2006.
3 Zgodovinsko-gospodarski razmere do druge svetovne vojne
Zgodovinski vzrok za mejni spor so spremembe meje občine Piran. Njene katastrske meje so nastale kot posledica različne rabe tal s strani posameznih lokalnih skupnosti. Skozi stoletja gospodarskega razvoja, ki je temeljil na lokalnih virih, so bile meje razmeroma stabilne vse do konca druge svetovne vojne. Z vidika gospodarskih dejavnosti, ki so vplivale na njihov nastanek, velja izpostaviti predvsem solinarstvo in ribištvo. Ker se članek ne ukvarja z razmejitvijo na morju bo podrobneje predstavljena le vloga solinarstva.
Sečoveljske soline so skupaj s tistimi v Strunjanu in nekdanjimi solinami v Luciji del Piranskih solin. Piransko solinarstvo ima verjetno korenine že v antiki, saj prvi pisni viri o njih segajo v 13. stoletje.
Kakor ostale soline na območju severnega Jadrana, so tudi te nastale ob izlivu vodotoka v morje. Ta je bil osnovni pogoj za njihov nastanek. Fluvialna erozija vztrajno niža Šavrinska brda, zgrajena iz eocen-skega fliša in gradivo izpira v porečje reke Dragonje. Ta se odlaga v aluvialni ravnici ob izlivu reke v Piranski zaliv (Zorn 2008).
Ker je Dragonja svojo delto vedno bolj naplavljala v zaliv, so solinarji soline od vzhoda sproti širili na novo nastajajočo ravnico proti zahodu. Lokacija solin se je sčasoma pomikala proti morju, sproščene zaledne površine v notranjosti pa so namenili poljedeljskim površinam (Savnik 1951; Križan 1990; Darovec2001; Črnivec, Pipan in Žabjek 2006).
Najpomembnejši tehnološki mejnik v njihovem delovanju se je zgodil leta 1377, ko so po vzoru dalmatinskih solinarjev z otoka Paga na dnu kavedinov ali kristalizacijskih bazenov začeli izdelovati »petolo«. To je posebna naravno gojena podlaga iz sadre, ki jo ustvarijo mikroorganizmi, pomešani s površinskim blatom in preprečuje mešanje soli z blatom. Od tedaj dalje je piranska sol zaradi izredno kakovostne peto-le kristalno čista, bela in dobrega okusa, brez primesi peska ter ostalih nečistoč. Zaradi izredno visoke kakovosti so »belo zlato« začeli prodajati v širše zaledje, pa tudi na širše območje Evrope in celo na Bližnji vzhod (Bonin 2001). Gospodarski razvoj Pirana je stoletja temeljil na pridelavi in trgovanju z »belim zlatom«. Ko je leta 1283, kot zadnje istrsko mesto sprejel oblast Benetk, je postal del širšega beneškega koncepta vzpostavljanja monopola nad solno trgovino (Holz 2001).
Kako zelo pomembne so bile Sečoveljske soline za Beneško Republiko govori dejstvo, da so proizvedle večino soli v okviru Piranskih solin. Te pa so poleg tistih v Trstu, Miljah, Kopru, Rabu, Pagu, Stonu in Ulcinju predstavljale kar 1/3 celotne proizvodnje soli na vzhodni Jadranski obali. Sol je stoletja predstavljala strateško surovino saj je bila glavna sestavina za konzerviranje hrane. Trgovina s soljo je dosegla velik razmah zlasti po letu 1578, ko so Benečani zaradi gospodarskega zapleta s habsburškim cesarstvom poškodovali tržaške soline, ki so dokončno propadle leta 1617. Po propadu Beneške Republike so Francozi na ozemlju Ilirskih provinc uvedli popoln državni monopol na sol. Tržišče se je občutno zmanjšalo, saj so francoske oblasti prepovedale prodajo soli v avstrijske dežele, izvoz preko morja je bil zaradi angleške pomorske blokade nemogoč, v Lombardiji in Furlaniji pa je bila na tržišču cenejša francoska sol.
S prihodom pod avstrijsko oblast se je leta 1827 ponovno po celotni habsburški monarhiji uveljavil državni monopol nad soljo in se obdržal do začetka 20. stoletja. Zaradi dobre kakovosti so sol prodajali v Turčijo, posamezni trgovci pa celo v Severno in Južno Ameriko, Indijo in skandinavske dežele (Bonin 1992).
Delo v solinah je bilo izrazito sezonsko. Zima je bila čas za obnovo solinskih nasipov ter poglabljanje kanalov, poletje pa sezona za pobiranje soli. Ker je v obdobju poletne sezone v solinah živelo in delalo več sto ljudi, je bil drugi pomemben pogoj za delovanje solin oskrba z zadostno količino kakovostne pitne vode. Vodotoki, ki se iz (vododržnih) flišnih Šavrinskih brd s severa in vzhoda stekajo proti Sečoveljskih solinam so se izkazali za nezanesljiv oskrbni vir, saj imajo submediteranski rečni režim, za katerega sta značilna hudourniški značaj in presihanje strug v poletnih mesecih. Edini stalni vir kakovostne pitne vode so številni kraški izviri na stiku vodonosnika Bujskega krasa z aluvialno ravnico reke Dragonje na južni strani Sečoveljskih solin. Solinarji so tjakaj dnevno hodili po vodo z lesenimi posodami ali z glinenimi vrči. Eden izmed takšnih izvirov so bile na primer Fontanele (Starec 2001, 127). Vrsta sladkovodnih izvirov je tudi v morju vzdolž Savudrijskega polotoka, kjer se pod vodo mešata sladka in slana voda. Dva takšna večja izvira sta Velika in Mala Luknja (Orožen Adamič 1980, 162).
Zaradi strateškega pomena oskrbovanja solin s pitno vodo z izvirov pod Bujskim krasom je občina Piran pod svoje okrilje že davno vključila bližnje zaledje vzpetega sveta Sečoveljskih solin na Bujskem krasu in Savudrijskem polotoku kar kažeta slika 1 in slika 2.
Slika 1: Občina Piran je v preteklosti obsegala tudi območje k. o. Savudrija ter k. o. Kaštel. (Piano Topografico...1882). Glej angleški del prispevka.
Slika 2: Upravna razdelitev Istre v letih 1926-1945 (Cermelj 1945; Darovec 1992,59), za območje občine Piran to velja do 1947, ko je bilo
ustanovljeno STO.
Glej angleški del prispevka.
4 Spremembe meje občine Piran med in po drugi svetovni vojni
Vzroki za spremembo južne meje občine Piran segajo v čas druge svetovne vojne, ko se je začela oblikovati bodoča razmejitev med Slovenijo in Hrvaško v Istri. Slovenski Narodnoosvobodilni Svet (SNOS) je z namenom priprave izhodišč za slovenske državne meje po vojni ustanovil Znanstveni inštitut, katerega predsednik je bil dr. Fran Zwitter. Sodelavci Znanstvenega inštituta so se pri načrtovanju povojnih meja usmerjali prvenstveno v študije slovensko-italijanske, slovensko-nemške in slovensko-madžarske etnične meje, mejo s Hrvati pa so kot neproblematično puščali ob strani (Mihelič 2007, 149).
Pri določanju izhodišč za mejo s Hrvaško v Istri elaborati niso temeljili na terenski raziskavi, ampak na zgodovinski literaturi starejšega datuma. Enostavno so se oprli na »Zemljovid Slovenske dežele in pokrajin«, ki ga je leta 1853 izdal Peter Kozler. Razlog za to odločitev je bilo splošno nepoznavanje razmer na terenu, saj tega območja slovenski znanstveniki v obdobju med obema vojnama niso mogli podrobneje preučevati, ker je spadalo pod Italijo.
Ohranjeni so zapisniki za šest sej Znanstvenega inštituta, ki so bile 26. januarja 1944 na bazi 13-23, 7. februarja 1944, verjetno na bazi 13-23, 22. februarja 1944 v Črnomlju, 20. marca 1944 v Semiču, 1. maja 1944 v Črnomlju in 30. junija 1944 v Semiču. Razen teh sej je bila še posebna seja 20. marca 1944 v Semiču, ki se je je udeležilo 19 udeležencev, med katerimi so bili tudi zunanji sodelavci inštituta (Škerl 1965, 36).
Mag. Dušan Fatur je na osnovi popisanih gradiv zasedanj Znanstvenega inštituta in SNOS ugotovil da, če je bilo na vseh zasedanjih, ko so govorili o meji porabljenih 100 ur, je bilo za mejo v Istri na razpolago le 20 minut (Arhiv Ministrstva... 2008).
Eden izmed rezultatov teh zasedanj je tudi karta predloga razmejitve med Slovenijo in Hrvaško v Istri, ki jo je pripravil dr. Fran Zwitter. Za osnovo je vzel karto »Upravna podjela Istre« iz leta 1918, ki prikazuje katastrske občne in na kateri so imena katastrskih občin v hrvaškem jeziku. Na karti, kjer sta z modro-rde-čim učiteljskim barvnim svinčnikom vrisani dve različici meje v Istri glede na to ali katastrske občine Topolovec, Gradin, Sočerga, Movraž, Črnica in Rakitovec pripadejo Hrvaški ali Sloveniji, je na območju spodnje Dragonje začrtana ena sama črta. Ta poteka po dolini reke Dragonje, a ne po reki Dragonji ampak po južni meji tedanje katastrske občine Piran (slika 3). Karto hrani Arhiv Republike Slovenije (AS 1420).
Slika 3: Predlog razmejitve med Slovenijo in Hrvaško v Istri, ki jo je pripravil dr. Fran Zwitter (AS 1420). Glej angleški del prispevka.
Že leta 1943 je med slovenskimi in hrvaškimi partizanskimi enotami in prebivalstvom v severni Istri prihajalo do nesporazumov glede vojaških akcij, oskrbovanja in mobilizacije. Za ureditev nesoglasij sta se 10. februarja 1944; tri dni po prvem zasedanju Znanstvenega inštituta, v vasi Malija nad Izolo v hiši št. 10, na pobudo hrvaške organizacije, sestala tajnik okrožnega odbora OF Milan Guček in zastopnik pokrajinskega komiteja KPH Andrija Babic. Rezultat njunega srečanja je bil dogovor o vojaško-operativni razmejitvi delovanja obeh osvobodilnih gibanj. Milan Guček v svojih spominih navaja: »... Z Andrijo sva slonela nad geografsko karto in sva se kaj lahko sporazumela. Meja bo tam, kjer se konča ozemlje in govorijo ljudje še izrazito slovensko. Tako daleč je pravzaprav segala organizacija naše Osvobodilne fronte, tukaj se prebivalci sami čutijo Slovence. In sva kar začrtala mejo in sproti ocenjevala vasi. Začela sva pri izlivu Dragonje v morje s konca Sečoveljskih solin, nato sva šla ves čas po toku te rečice do vasi Topolovec, nato jugovzhodno pod vasjo Pregara, proti vzhodu nad Štrpedom pred Buzetom in proti Vodicam. Podala sva si roke. Sedaj ne bo več nesporazumov, čigavo je kaj. Morda sva tudi opravila delo za bodoče republiške meje. Kdo ve?...« (Guček 1959; Marin 1998).
Ta dogovor je bil sklenjen neodvisno od Znanstvenega inštituta in tudi ni v skladu s Zwitterjevo karto (slika 3). Ta vojaško-operativna razmejitev med slovensko in hrvaško partizansko vojsko je tudi prva
etnična razdelitev Istre med Slovenci in Hrvati. Vojaško-operativni razmejitvi navkljub so se pozneje težave še pojavljale, posebno zaradi poskusov hrvaških partizanskih enot po mobilizaciji slovenskega prebivalstva preko črte organizacijsko-teritorialne razmejitve (Celar 2002).
10. februarja 1947 je bila v Parizu podpisana mirovna pogodba z Italijo, ki je začela veljati 15.9.1947, istega dne pa je bilo ustanovljeno Svobodno tržaško ozemlje (STO). Zakonodajni organ cone B STO, ki je bila pod vojaško upravo Jugoslovanske armade, je bil Istrski okrožni ljudski odbor (IOLO). Cona B je bila razdeljena na dva okraja: Koper in Buje. Dotedanja enovita občina Piran je bila razdeljena med dva okraja. V skladu z odločitvijo Znanstvenega inštituta za mejo po dolini reke Dragonje sta katastrski občini Savudrija in Kaštel, ki sta prej spadali v upravno občino Piran, po novem pripadli kasnejši hrvaški občini Buje, v okraj Buje (slika 4). Zemljiški knjigi za obe katastrski občini sta bili iz sodišča v Piranu preneseni na sodišče v Bujah.
Slika 4: Izsek z zemljevida iz priloge v knjigi Cadastre national de l'Istrie (Cadastre... 1945; Darovec 1992,74). Glej angleški del prispevka.
5 Odlok in sklepa IOLO, območje dvojne evidence in njene posledice v prostoru
V nasprotju s stališčem Znanstvenega inštituta kakor tudi s katastrskim načelom je verjetno pod vplivom dogovora Guček-Babič, mejo po dolini reke Dragonje Odlok o ureditvi ljudskih sodišč Istrskega okrožja, ki je 1.9.1947 izšel v prvi številki Uradnega lista Istrskega okrožnega ljudskega odbora (IOLO), določil na reki Dragonji. Ta je jurisdikcijo nad ozemljem južno od reke Dragonje (tudi del k. o. Piran III južno od reke Dragonje) s sodišča v Piranu prenesel na sodišče v Bujah. Njegov 10. člen se glasi: »... Okrajno ljudsko sodišče v Bujah posluje v svojem dosedanjem sodnem območju, okrajni ljudski sodišči v Piranu in Kopru poslujeta v istih sodnih področjih, v katerih sta poslovali pred ukinitvijo samostojnega okrajnega sodišča v Piranu, vendar le severno od reke Dragonje...« (Odlok... 1947).
Zaradi večstoletne navezanosti prebivalcev ob Dragonji na občino Piran, se leta 1948 prebivalci Mlinov odloku uprejo in zahtevajo ponovno umestitev v Slovenijo oziroma v krajevni ljudski odbor Sečovlje, posledično s tem pa k okrajnemu sodišču Piran.
Zahtevo prebivalcev Mlinov je potrdil sklep V. rednega zasedanja IOLO, z 29.6.1948 v Piranu. Zapisnik tega zasedanja je izšel v 6. številki 2. letnika Uradnega lista vojne uprave JA jugoslovanske zone STO in IOLO, 30.10.1948. Njegov 3. člen, ki govori o organizacijskih vprašanjih se glasi: »... Tajnik Izvršilnega odbora tov. Laurenti Eugenio poroča o organizacijskih izpremembah v organih ljudske oblasti, nato pa poda sedanje stanje razmejitve med krajevnimi ljudskimi odbori. Končno predloži dopis prebivalcev naselja Mulini (Sv. Odorik), ki prosijo, naj bi jim IOLO dovolil odcepitev od KLO-a Kastel okraj Buje ter priključitev k KLO-u Sičjole, kamor so vezani gospodarsko in kulturno. Tej prošnji se soglasno ugodi, odobri se tudi soglasno celotno poročilo Laurenti-ja...« (Zapisnik V... 1948).
Dobro leto dni pozneje isto zahtevajo še prebivalci Bužinov in Škodelina. Njihovo zahtevo je potrdil sklep VIII. rednega zasedanja IOLO z 17. in 18.7.1949 v Kopru. Zapisnik tega zasedanja je izšel v 1. številki 4. letnika Uradnega lista vojne uprave JA jugoslovanske zone STO in	c se glasi: »... del zaselka Božini s hišama številka 1019 in 1020, KLO Kaštel, okraj Buje, se priključi zaselku Boži-ni v območju KLO Sečovlje, okraj Koper...« (Zapisnik VIII... 1950).
Oba sklepa, ki sta »razveljavila« predhodni odlok, je ravno tako kakor odlok sam, sprejel isti organ, ki je načeloval coni B STO. Objavljena sta bila v istem glasilu, ki je izhajalo v vseh treh uradnih jezikih cone B STO; hrvaškem, italijanskem in slovenskem. Sklepa IOLO sta ozemlje občine Piran oz. katastrske občine Piran III., ki je bila leta 1953 preimenovana v katastrsko občino Sečovlje zopet razširila na ozek pas ozemlja južno od reke Dragonje in kanala sv. Odorika do meje s katastrsko občino Savudrija in Kaštel, ki poteka po reliefnem pregibu med aluvialno ravnico reke Dragonje in vzpetim svetom Bujskega krasa. Zanimiva je karta »Okraj Koper« (slika 5) iz osebne zbirke Borisa Kraigherja v zvezi s Tržaškim vprašanjem leta 1954, ki jo hrani Arhiv Slovenije. Karta prikazuje predlog nove upravno-teritorialne razdelitve OLO Koper, izdelal pa jo je Katastrski urad Koper 23.2.1952. Na njej jugozahodna meja okraja Koper ne poteka po reki Dragonji temveč po katastrski meji (AS 1529, 9).
Slika 5: »Okraj Koper« iz osebne zbirke Borisa Kraigherja na kateri je Katastrski urad Koper 23.2.1952 jugozahodno mejo okraja Koper ozna~il po katastrski meji in ne po reki Dragonji. (AS 1529,9). Glej angleški del prispevka.
Na podlagi Memoranduma o soglasju oziroma Drugega londonskega sporazuma 5.10.1954, se je italijanska civilna uprava z manjšimi ozemeljskimi popravki razširila na cono A STO, jugoslovanska pa na cono B STO. Memorandumu je sledil jugoslovanski zvezni Zakon o veljavi ustave, zakonov in drugih zveznih pravnih predpisov na ozemlju iz 27.10., na katero se je z mednarodnim sporazumom razširila civilna uprava Federativne Ljudske republike Jugoslavije, ki okraj Koper dodeli Sloveniji, okraj Buje pa Hrvaški (Zakon o veljavi ustave ... 1954). Zakon o razširitvi veljavnosti ustave, zakonov in drugih predpisov na Koprsko območje iz 4.11. je slovensko jurisdikcijo razširil na novo pridobljeno ozemlje (Zakon o razširitvi ... 1954). Zakon o območjih okrajev in občin iz 30.6.1955 določa, katere katastrske občine sestavljajo območje Slovenije. V Slovenijo je vključena k. o. Sečovelje v celoti, tudi območje južno od Dragonje (Zakon o območjih... 1955).
V teh zakonih ni govora o meji temveč le o ozemlju, saj se je namreč smatralo, da je bila meja določena že z odlokom IOLO in sklepoma IOLO. Spremembe meje med Slovenijo in Hrvaško v Istri so bile v obdobju od 1945 do 1956 med najbolj dinamičnimi na celotni meji med obema republikama. Kljub temu, da sklepa IOLO nikoli nista bila preklicana, pa s strani Hrvaške nikoli nista bila v celoti spoštovana. Vir nesporazuma je v nepriznavanju veljavnosti sklepov IOLO glede na odlok IOLO, saj Hrvaška zastopa stališče, da je sklep s pravniškega vidika hierarhično nižji od odloka. Trdi, da bi moral biti odlok IOLO popravljen le z novim odlokom IOLO. Na podlagi sklepov IOLO, pa kljub mnogim zahtevam Hrvaške, niti zemljiška knjiga niti kataster za (za del k. o. Sečovlje južno od Dragonje) iz Pirana nista bila prenesena v Buje. Zaradi tega lahko to območje imenujemo območje dvojne evidence, saj ga imajo v različnih evidencah tako slovenska občina Piran, kot tudi hrvaška občina Buje.
Slika 6: Obmo~je dvojne evidence med Slovenijo in Hrva{ko na kopnem ob reki Dragonji. Glej angleški del prispevka.
Ker je ozemlje katastrsko del občine Piran in ga Geodetska uprava Republike Slovenije vodi v svojih geodetskih podlagah, je bilo vključeno v določeno rabo tal, ki pa je s tisto na Hrvaškem celo v navzkrižju. Parcele na spornem ozemlju so vpisane v Piranskem katastru, ki ima arhivske podatke in zemljiško knjigo z zbirko listin. Med 1992 in 1994 so jih na Hrvaškem vnesli tudi v zemljiško knjigo v Bujah (Velkavrh 1998, 84-86).
Stara struga reke Dragonje deli Sečoveljske soline na severno, še danes aktivno območje Lera ter na južne opuščene Fontaniggie. Na slednjih, kjer se je vse do zadnjega ohranil srednjeveški način pridelave soli, so s proizvodnjo zaradi neekonomičnosti prenehali leta 1967. Na zapuščenih Fontaniggiah so postopoma svoje stalno ali začasno zatočišče našle številne ptice, druge živali in rastline. Za soline, ki so bile od nekdaj v prvi vrsti predvsem ekonomska kategorija se je pričelo obdobje, ko so v ospredje začele stopati drugačne vrednote, kot so kulturna in naravna dediščina, rekreacija in prosti čas. 26.1.1990 je občina Piran razglasila Krajinski park Sečoveljske soline. Odlok med naravnimi rezervati v sklopu parka navaja tudi »Stare soline«, ki se nahaja na južnem bregu kanala Sv. Odorika, tik pred iztekom kanala v Piranski zaliv (Odlok o razglasitvi Krajinskega parka... 1990). Rezervat ima za krajinski park poseben pomen, saj je poleg rezervata »Ob rudniku« najpomembnejše območje za drstišče rib v parku. Del Sečoveljskih solin je bile zaradi izjemnih krajinskih in ekoloških vrednot leta 1993 kot prvo mokrišče v Sloveniji uvrščen na seznam ramsarskih lokalitet; UNESCOVA konvencija o varstvu in rabi mokrišč. Vlada Republike Slovenije je 5. aprila 2001 na pobudo kulturnega ministrstva in Zavoda za varstvo kulturne dediščine Piran sprejela Uredbo o Krajinskem parku Sečoveljske soline (Uredba o Krajinskem parku... 2001). Raven zaščite Sečoveljskih solin in muzeja solinarstva se je tako z občinskega dvignila na državno raven. Čeprav v KPSS spada tudi območje južno od kanala Sv. Odorika, ta z njim po letu 1991 v praksi nikoli ni upravljal, saj je dostop do njega možen le skozi hrvaški mejni prehod Plovanija, česar pa hrvaški mejni organi ne dovolijo. Takšno stanje traja še danes, čeprav je roko nad parkom v letu 2001 od občine prevzela država. Primer navzkrižja v rabi prostora je tudi ta, da je del spornega območja na južnem bregu kanala Sv. Odorika glede na dokumentacijo Krajinskega parka Sečoveljske soline določen kot ptičji rezervat. Na istem območju je občina Buje razglasila lovišče.
Med 10. in 21.6.1991 je slovenska stran, na lokaciji južno od reke Dragonje, kjer se danes nahajajo poslopja hrvaškega mednarodnega mejnega prehoda Plovanija, začela s pripravljalnimi gradbenim deli
za izgradnjo slovenskega mednarodnega mejnega prehoda Sečovlje. Tja je bilo pripeljano 56 tovornjakov materiala, ki naj bi služil za izravnavo terena za bodoča mejna poslopja. 21. junija, štiri dni pred osamosvojitvijo, je prišlo do ostre hrvaške reakcije, češ da Slovenija objekt gradi na hrvaškem ozemlju. Po večurnih telefonskih pogovorih je v Ljubljani padla odločitev, da se gradbinci umaknejo. To je bila težka, a pravilna državniška odločitev, saj so takrat v Beogradu odločno nasprotovali gradnji mejnih prehodov na republiški meji. Če bi prišlo pri Sečovljah do odkritega konflikta, bi šlo to odlično na roko jugoslovanski armadi, ki bi tako imela argument za posredovanje nekaj dni prej, kot v resnici je. Slovenija je začasni mejni prehod Sečovlje kasneje zgradila na severnem bregu reke Dragonje. Hrvaška je mednarodni cestni mejni prehod Plovanija dogradila leta 1993. Slovensko ministrstvo za zunanje zadeve je glede tega nekajkrat uradno protestiralo in kljub zagotovilom hrvaške strani, da je ta lokacija zgolj začasna, se je izkazalo, da je to dejansko končna lokacija (Žokalj Jesih 2005,14).
Državni zbor Republike Slovenije je 3. oktobra 1994 sprejel Zakon o ustanovitvi občin ter o določitvi njihovih območij, vkaterem je razvidno, da so sestavni del občine Piran tudi naselja Škodelin, Bužini, Škrile in Mlini (Zakon o ustanovitvi... 1994). Na Hrvaškem so naselja znana kot Škudelin, Bužin, Škri-lje in Mlini. Ozemlje smatra Hrvaška za svojega, nad njimi pa tudi dejansko izvaja nadzor. Iz hrvaške perspektive tistega časa (Srbska okupacija Slavonije, Krajine in prisotnost čet OZN na njenem ozemlju) je bila ta poteza razumljena kot radikalen preobrat v slovenski zunanji politiki in je bila interpretirana kot unilateralno anektiranje ozemlja (Klemenčič in Schofield 1995). Na osnovi ostrih reakcij Republike Hrvaške in v izogib nadaljnjemu zaostrovanju spora je Državni zbor Republike Slovenije na zahtevo Ustavnega sodišča Republike Slovenije v Zakonu o spremembah in dopolnitvah zakona o ustanovitvi občin ter
0	določitvi njihovih območij že 28. oktobra 1994 v 2. členu zamrznil izvajanje vseh določb le petnajst dni starega sprejetega zakona o ustanovitvi občin ter o določitvi njihovih območij, ki se nanašajo na območja zaselkov Bužini, Škodelin in Škrile (Zakon o spremembah ... 1994).
6 Pogled s terena
Po podatkih iz popisa leta 1991 je v zaselkih južno od reke Dragonje v 17 gospodinjstvih živelo 53 prebivalcev (Klemenčič in Schofield 1995). Z vidika rednih vsakodnevnih migracij so bili njihovi prebivalci vseskozi vezani na Slovenijo, saj so se tam šolali, hodili na delo in se vsakodnevno oskrbovali. Na Hrvaškem so bili vključeni v popise prebivalstva, tam so tudi volili. Leta 1990 niso dobili vabila za udeležbo na plebiscitu za samostojno Slovenijo, prav tako pa se v Sloveniji niso udeleževali referendumov in volitev v samostojni Sloveniji, saj so bili vključeni v register prebivalcev Hrvaške. V obdobju Jugoslavije so imeli prebivalci hrvaške osebne izkaznice in vozniška dovoljenja, njihovi jugoslovanski potni listi so bili izdani na Hrvaškem. Še v prvih letih po osamosvojitvi obeh držav so bili priključeni na slovensko električno (Bela knjiga... 2006, 178) telefonsko in vodovodno omrežje, poštne storitve pa je za njih opravljala slovenska pošta v Sečovljah.
Po pripovedovanju enega izmed informatorjev, naj bil uslužbenci pošte v Sečovljah do leta 1984 v vsa obravnavana naselja južno od Dragonje redno dostavljali pošto. Nato pa je nekega dne upravnica pošte določila, da naj prebivalci iz preučevanih naselij na poštnem uradu v Sečovljah sami prevzemajo prispele poštne pošiljke. Razlog za takšno uradniško odločitev naj bi bila bolezenska odsotnost poštarja, ki je bil zadolžen za omenjeni rajon in preobremenjenost njegovih kolegov, ki zaradi omejenega časa ne bi mogli razdeliti poštnih pošiljk tudi v naseljih južno od Dragonje. Ta začasna odločitev je sčasoma v praksi postala dokončna. Danes prebivalcem pošto domov dostavlja podjetje Hrvatska Pošta. Večina prebivalcev pa poštne pošiljke iz Slovenije še vedno osebno prevzema na poštnem uradu v Sečovljah.
Del zaselka Mlini, ki leži na levem bregu reke Dragonje, je bil preklopljen na hrvaško telefonsko omrežje leta 1993, ko so do tja potegnili kable za objekte mejnega prehoda Plovanija. Naselje Škodelin je bilo na hrvaško telefonsko omrežje preklopljeno leta 1995. Zanimiv je primer iz Škodelina, ko je bilo po podatkih enega izmed informatorjev, naročnikom ob preklopu obljubljeno: ». Imat čete lokalno tarifo s Koprom
1	platit čete kao, da imate slovenski...«. Obljuba o lokalni tarifi s strani podjetja Hrvatski Telekom je veljala vse do leta 2000, ko je Telekom Slovenije uvedel nov sistem območnih telefonskih skupin. Dotedanja stara območna skupina »066«, ki je za območje Kopra veljala še iz obdobja Jugoslavije, je bila spremenjena v območno skupino »05«. Prebivalce omenjenih naselij, ki so tudi po preštevilčenju omrežnih skupin v enakem obsegu telefonirali v Slovenijo, so po prvem mesecu neprijetno presenetili občutno višji raču-
ni za Hrvatski Telekom (65-80 EUR), saj so bili vsi pogovori zaračunani kot mednarodni telefonski pogovori.
V praksi imajo skoraj vsi prebivalci naselij južno od Dragonje stalno prebivališče prijavljeno še pri kakšnem od sorodnikov ali prijateljev v občini Piran, tja še vedno vsakodnevno migrirajo na delo, v šolo in se oskrbujejo. Poleg hrvaškega imajo tudi slovensko državljanstvo.
Delu zaselka Mlini (7 hiš), ki se nahaja južno od reke Dragonje in zahodno od magistralne ceste Sečovlje - Plovanija, so bile leta 1999 dodeljene hišne številke naselja Sečovlje. Tablico z napisom Sečovlje št. 1 je na svojo hišo izobesil edino gospod Joško Joras.
Na podlagi zemljiške knjige v Piranu lastniki zemljišč na spornem območju plačujejo katastrski dohodek Sloveniji, najemniki pa najemnine Skladu kmetijskih zemljišč in gozdov Republike Slovenije. Problem se pojavlja, ko ista zemljišča, občina Buje prodaja drugim interesentom s čimer prihaja tudi do sporov dveh lastnikov oziroma najemnikov istih zemljišč.
Kljub vsemu so številni prebivalci dela katastrske občine Sečovlje južno od Dragonje, kjer ležijo zaselki Bužini, Mlini, Škodelin in Škrile, ohranili zavest o slovenski pripadnosti (Mihelič 2007, 150.)
7	Sporazum Drnovšek-Račan
Še najresnejši poskus določitve meje med državama, ki vključuje tudi obravnavano sporno območje ob Dragonji je bil t. i. Sporazum Drnovšek-Račan (tedanja premierja). Vladi Slovenije in Hrvaške sta 19. julija 2001 potrdili Pogodbo med Republiko Slovenijo in Republiko Hrvaško o skupni državni meji. Čeprav sta vladi sporazum parafirali že naslednji dan (20.7.2001), ni prišlo do ratifikacije zaradi velikega nasprotovanja hrvaške pravne stroke.
Izhodišče za določitev meje na kopnem je bila meja na dan osamosvojitve držav 25. junija 1991. Najtrši oreh je bilo njeno določanje ob Dragonji. Državi sta se dogovorili, da mejo med državama na obravnavanem območju določa struga reke Dragonje. Vseh spornih 113 hektarjev območja (skupaj z delom Sečoveljskih solin južno od Dragonje), ki je uradno še vedno vpisanih v piranski zemljiški kataster in nad katerim dejansko izvaja nadzor Hrvaška, naj bi po sporazumu pripalo južni sosedi. To pomeni, da bi vsi sporni zaselki: Bužini, Škodelin, Škrile (in del Mlinov) z 20 hišami in približno 60 prebivalci pripadli Hrvaški. Za njihove prebivalce so se dogovorili o nekaterih ugodnostih, ki bi bile večje kot jih predvideva Sporazum med Republiko Slovenijo in Republiko Hrvaško o obmejnem prometu in sodelovanju (SOPS) iz leta 2001. Pri uvozu iz Slovenije bi bili oproščeni plačila carin in drugih dajatev, lahko bi pridobili slovensko državljanstvo, Slovenija bi jim omogočila izkoriščanje zdravstvenih, šolskih in drugih storitev na svojem ozemlju. Poleg tega je Hrvaška pristala, da lahko Slovenija še 30 let črpa pitno vodo iz dveh črpališč (Bužini in Gabrijeli). Sporazum na tem območju upošteva vrsto okoljevarstvenih in naravnovarstvenih ukrepov oziroma načel (Ivanc 2001; Šlamberger 2001; Šuligoj 2001).
Na podlagi dejstva, da bi po sporazumu Hrvaški pripadlo obravnavano sporno območje na kopnem južno od Dragonje, bi glede na dotedanja stališča Hrvaške, na celotni morski meji prišlo do ustreznega nadomestila v korist Slovenije.
8	Sklep
Temelj oblikovanja državnih meja med nekdanjimi republikami SFRJ po njenem razpadu so mnenja Arbitražne komisije Konference o Jugoslaviji, ki se je ukvarjala z reševanjem odprtih vprašanj prihodnjih odnosov med republikami, njen vodja pa je bil predsednik francoskega ustavnega sodišča Robert Badinter. Arbitražno mnenje št. 3. govori o tem da je "notranje meje med bivšimi republikami moč spremeniti le z vzajemnim in svobodnim sporazumom. V kolikor ne bo drugače določeno, bodo nedavne medrepubliške meje dobile značaj državnih meja, ki jih ščiti mednarodno javno pravo pri vsem spoštovanju načela »status quo in utipossidetis iuris« (Celar 2002, 160).
Načelo »uti possidetis«, je bilo sprva uporabljeno pri reševanju problemov dekolonizacije v Ameriki in Afriki. »Utipossidetis iuris« se uporablja, če je razmejitev pravno določena, kot je bila npr. kopenska razmejitev med administrativnimi oziroma federalnimi enotami (socialističnimi republikami) nekdanje SFRJ. V takem primeru obstaja pravni naslov, na podlagi katerega je mogoče ugotoviti pravno stanje pred
kritičnim datumom (25.6.1991) (Türk 2007, 413-414). Pravni naslov je Meddržavno sodišče opredelilo kot:
a)	nasledstvo novih držav glede na prejšnjo kolonialno oblast v zvezi z določenim območjem,
b)	odloke nekdanjih kolonialnih oblasti, ki so določena območja dodelili določeni administrativni enoti,
c)	oznako za dokaze, na podlagi katerih je mogoče sklepati, da je določena država upravičena do ozemlja (Šebenik 2007, 832).
Načelo »uti possidetis de facto« se uporablja, če prvotna razmejitev ni bila pravno določena, vendar pa je obstajala dejansko (Türk 2007, 413-414). Po mnenju Meddržavnega sodišča to pomeni ravnanje upravnih, administrativnih oblasti kot dokaz za dejansko izvajanje teritorialne jurisdikcije na določenem območju v kolonialnem obdobju (Šebenik 2007, 832). »... Ko obstaja nasprotje med pravnim naslovom in dejanskim stanjem, načeloma prevlada pravni naslov, vendar pa bo sodišče v vsakem primeru posebej preverilo, ali ni na podlagi ravnanja držav prišlo do spremembe v pravnem naslovu...«
Dejstva dokazujejo, da se na spornem območju južno od Dragonje po 25.6.1991 status quo ni ohranil. Istočasno so se zgodile spremembe, za katere ni bilo soglasja obeh vpletenih strani. Za reševanje mejnega spora med Slovenijo in Hrvaško so na voljo različni načini arbitraž (Zgonec - Rožej, 2003). Vsekakor bi bilo priporočljivo, če bi pri reševanju tega spora upoštevali »načelo pravičnosti«, na podlagi katerega je na primer Sveti Sedež leta 1984 kot mediator v več kot 200 letnem mejnem sporu med Argentino in Čilom priporočil mejo v prelivu Beagle in na obsežnem morskem območju na jugu Južne Amerike.
Zgled uspešnih neposrednih pogajanj med dvema stranema so zagotovo Osimski sporazumi, ki sta jih po dolgotrajnih tajnih pogajanjih SFRJ in Italija v Osimu blizu Ancone podpisali 10.11.1975. Meja med Jugoslavijo in Italijo je bila tako potrjena šele 30 let po nastanku mejnega spora in 21 let po prenehanju angloameriške vojaške uprave v STO. Če vemo, da se reševanje mejnih sporov meri z dolgoročnimi časovnimi vatli in si za pozitiven zgled vzamemo časovni okvir Osimskih sporazumov, imata Hrvaška in Slovenija do leta 2021 - torej še 13 let časa, da sami rešita omenjeni spor.
9 Literatura
Glej angleški del prispevka.