The determination of the Montenegrin and Croatian governments to start research and eventual exploitation of oil and gas in the Adriatic Sea imposes the need to speed up the procedure for definitive delimitation in the area of Prevlaka, said the former head of Montenegrin diplomacy Branko Lukovac.
The Montenegrin government announced that the state protects its interests in accordance with international acts and that they are ready to continue the dialogue that would lead to an acceptable solution for both parties.
Lukovac assessed that the initiated activities of both governments for research and eventual exploitation of oil and gas will influence them to intensify negotiations with the aim of a final solution to the demarcation.
"If it turns out that there are no conditions for a bilateral agreement and agreement, which I am convinced of - then they should as soon as possible agree on a mandate that they would jointly entrust either to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, as the prime ministers agreed in 2008, or to the International Court of Law sea in Hamburg," said Lukovac to the MINA Agency.
Then, Lukovac added, it remains for the experts to gather, prepare all the necessary documentation and argumentation and submit it to the Court, whose decision will be final.
He said that perhaps, with timely and intensive communication between the competent authorities of the two countries and agreements regarding the initiation of offshore oil and gas exploration, access to the blocks in the Prevlaka area could have been agreed earlier.
"It would also be better if the Interstate Working Group had reached an agreement or important progress in seeking bilaterally a solution on the final delimitation, or on the mandate of the International Court," Lukovac pointed out.
As he stated, the most important thing is that the relations between the two neighboring countries are developing well, "and that efforts are being made to, even for this, the most complex issue that remained after the breakup of the common state (in which the administrative borders at sea were never determined) , find a solution".
Lukovac is convinced that the Government of Montenegro and its competent authorities, in relation to this aspect of the mutual relations between Montenegro and Croatia, are leading a good policy, in order to find the best solution for the demarcation on land and sea, to preserve the state interests of Montenegro and to open as wide as possible the spaces of good neighborliness. cooperation with Croatia.
"I also consider it a good decision of the Government of Montenegro to leave out the blocks in the area that has not yet been demarcated for the tender for the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons, and its readiness to find a mutually acceptable solution with the competent authorities and the Government of Croatia," he said. .
Asked whether it is possible to talk about the spirit of good-neighborly relations, if after the desire for a bilateral solution to the Prevlaka case, the international arbitration court is mentioned more often, and if one takes into account the publication of Croatia's tender for underwater research, Lukovac said that the developed friendly relations have been achieved especially in the time since the restoration of independence of Montenegro, the result of the previously reached Agreement on the temporary delimitation of Prevlaka in 2002.
Such relations were influenced, as he stated, by the agreement of the two governments that, if they failed to agree on the final delimitation themselves, they would jointly leave it to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Lukovac reminded that both sides emphasized several times that no problem or incident was registered in the implementation of the agreed temporary agreement.
"The determination of both governments to approach the exploration and eventual exploitation of hydrocarbons - oil and gas - in the Adriatic Sea, imposes the need to speed up the procedure for definitive demarcations in the area of Prevlaka, on land and sea, in order to avoid misunderstandings, perhaps save time and resources and prevented unnecessary politicization of this issue that could burden mutual relations," said Lukovac.
According to him, when it comes to the tenders that are being announced by Croatia and Montenegro, two approaches are possible in the absence of a definitive demarcation solution in the area of Prevlaka, the territorial sea and the continental shelf.
"One thing is what the Government of Montenegro brought last week - to leave that area out of the blocks for which tenders for exploration and exploitation would be announced - pending a definitive agreement or a decision of the International Court," he pointed out.
Another possibility, he stated, is to include them, starting from their interests and expectations, with the proviso that, after the final decision, everything that has been done in the meantime is left to the other party - as hinted by the Croatian Minister of Energy, Ivan Vrdoljak .
"Representatives of the competent authorities of the two countries will discuss this in the coming days and weeks and agree on what will be mutually acceptable," said Lukovac.
He said that, although it would be better if the final demarcation in that area were reached without international arbitration, he believes that this is not realistic.
"Because even a temporary solution, especially in Croatia, was welcomed with a knife, both by the then opposition HDZ (the agreement was reached with the SDP Government of the then Prime Minister Ivica Račan), and by a large number of experts, who relied on the International the Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the opinions of the Badinter Commission on the land demarcation of the new independent states created from the SFRY," Lukovac reminded.
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