Montenegro Acts to Solve Border Dispute With Croatia

In an attempt to resolve a territorial row over the Prevlaka peninsula, the Montenegrin government will form a new commission to help demarcate the border with Croatia.Montenegro’s Foreign Minister Igor Luksic announced on Wednesday that a commission would be set up in order to address the long-standing dispute with Croatia over the strategically-located peninsula in the Adriatic Sea which is claimed by both countries.

Luksic said that the two countries’ foreign ministers recently agreed to renew efforts in order to resolve the Prevlaka issue.

He said that previous proposed solutions implied that the problem could only be solved by international arbitration, but he believed that Podgorica and Zagreb could deal with the issue themselves.

“That would confirm that the two states are capable of solving this issue through negotiations, while respecting mutual interests and good-neighbourly relations,” Luksic said.

The dispute over the peninsula emerged at the beginning of the 1990s.

In 2002, an interim solution was agreed, under which Prevlaka remained Croatian territory while Montenegro was given rights over the surrounding waters.

In 2008, both countries agreed to let the International Court of Justice in The Hague decide on the issue, but a comprehensive settlement has yet to be made.