Border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia along the lower reaches of the Dragonja River

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.

Full text

Acta geographica Slovenica, 48-2, 2008, 331–356
BORDER DISPUTE BETWEEN CROATIA
AND SLOVENIA ALONG THE LOWER
REACHES OF THE DRAGONJA RIVER
MEJNI SPOR MED HRVA[KO
IN SLOVENIJO OB SPODNJEM
TOKU REKE DRAGONJE
Primo` 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.
PRIMO@ PIPAN

Primo` Pipan, Border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia along the lower reaches of the Dragonja River
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-[krile, Bu`ini and [kodelin 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 rea-
sons 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 inter-
national 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 :
Primo` 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 334
4 Changes of borders of the Municipality
of Piran during and after World War Two 336
5 Decree and decisions of the RPCI, the area
of double records and consequences in space 338
6 A view from the field 342
7 Drnov{ek-Ra~an agreement 343
8 Conclusion 343
9 Literature 344
332

1Introduction
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 draw-
ing 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 inter-
im 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 Se~ovlje 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-[krile, Bu`ini and [kodelin,
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 dis-
pute 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 (Klemen~i}, Schofield 1995).
Although various documents mention four villages there are today in fact only three. Beside the village Mlini
the geographic name [krile appears east of the Se~ovelje-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 admin-
istration 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.
2Methods
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 doc-
uments by Slovene, Croatian and foreign authors (Klemen~i} and Schofield 1995; Blake and Topalovi} 1996;
Gosar and Klemen~i} 2000; Darovec and Gosar 2004; Kristen 2006; Miheli~ 2007). Although the condi-
tions 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.
Acta geographica Slovenica, 48-2, 2008
333

Primo` Pipan, Border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia along the lower reaches of the Dragonja River
3Historic economic conditions until World War Two
The historic reason for the border dispute lies in changes of borders of the Municipality of Piran. Its cadas-
tre 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 Se~ovlje 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
[avrinska brda hills made from Eocene flysch and washing material to the Dragonja River basin. The mate-
rial 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; Kri`an 1990; Darovec 2001;
^rnivec, Pipan, @abjek 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
334
Figure 1: The Municipality of Piran in the past encompassed the Savudrija and Ka{tel land registry districts (Piano Topografico… 1882).

Acta geographica Slovenica, 48-2, 2008
335
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 dis-
pute 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 mar-
ket 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
Figure 2: Administrative division of Istria, 1926–1945 (^ermelj 1945;
Darovec 1992, 59), for the Municipality of Piran it applies until 1947
when the Free Territory of Trieste was established.

Primo` Pipan, Border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia along the lower reaches of the Dragonja River
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 (Oro`en 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 slop-
ing area of the Se~ovlje saltpans in the Buje karst and the Savudrija peninsula, as presented in Figures 1
and 2.
4Changes 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 prepar-
ing 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 situ-
ation 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 ^rnomelj on February 22nd, 1944, in
Semi~ on March 20th, 1944, in ^rnomelj 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 ([kerl 1965, 36).
Du{an 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 min-
utes (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, So~erga, Movra`, ^rnica 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 Gu~ek, and a representative of the regional committee of the Communist Party of Croatia, Andrija
Babi}, 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 mil-
itary operations of both liberation movements. Milan Gu~ek stated the following in his memoirs:
»… Andrija and I were leaning above a map and had no problem in finding an understanding. The border
336
Figure 3: Proposed border between Slovenia and Croatia in Istria prepared by Dr. Fran Zwitter (AS 1420). p

Acta geographica Slovenica, 48-2, 2008
337

Primo` Pipan, Border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia along the lower reaches of the Dragonja River
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 Se~ovlje salt-
pans, then we went along the course of this small river to the village Topolovec, then southeast under the village
Pregara, towards the east above [trped 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 divi-
sion 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 Sep-
tember 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 regis-
ters for both land registry districts were transferred from the court in Piran to the court in Buje.
5Decree 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 influ-
ence of the Gu~ek-Babi} agreement, the Decree on people's courts in the Istria Region, published in the first
338
Figure 4: Section from the map from enclosure in the book Cadastre national de l'Istrie (Cadastre …1945; Darovec 1992, 74).

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 (includ-
ing 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 juris-
diction 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 Se~ovlje 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 Ka{tel, Buje District, and inclusion in the LPC Si~jole where they have both eco-
nomic 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 Bu`ini and [kodelin. Their request was grant-
ed 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 Admi-
nistration of the Yugoslav zone of the FTT and the RPCI dated January 25th, 1950. Article 9c reads as follows:
»… A part of the village Bo`ini with house numbers 1019 and 1020, LPC Ka{tel, Buje District, shall be joined
with the village Bo`ini in LPC Se~ovlje, Koper District …« (Zapisnik VIII… 1950).
Acta geographica Slovenica, 48-2, 2008
339
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).

Primo` Pipan, Border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia along the lower reaches of the Dragonja River
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 Se~ovlje
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 Ka{tel, 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 rela-
tion 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 propos-
al 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 raz{iritvi… 1954). The Act on Areas of
Regions and Municipalities dated June 30th, 1955 laid down the land registry districts constituting the ter-
ritory of Slovenia. The entire Se~ovlje Land Registry District, including the area south of the Dragonja
River, was included in Slovenia (Zakon o obmo~jih …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
340
Mlini
Gabrijeli pumping station/
~rpali{~e Gabrijeli
Bu`ini pumping station/~rpali{~e Bu`ini
[krile
Bu`ini
[kodelin
Croatian border crossing Ka{tel/
hrva{ki mejni prehod Ka{tel
Croatian border crossing Plovanija/
hrva{ki mejni prehod Plovanija
Slovenian border crossing Se~ovlje/
slovenski mejni prehod Se~ovlje
Slovenian border crossing Dragonja/
slovenski mejni prehod Dragonja
Natural reserve/
naravni rezervat
Stare soline
50001000m
Author of the content/avtor vsebine:Primo` Pipan
Author of the map/avtor zemljevida: @iga Kokalj
Source/vir: Geodetska uprava RS
Dr
a
go
n
j
a
C R O A T I A /
H R V A [ K A
S L O V E N I A /
S L O V E N I J A
Sal/k
t.OdCan
orick
a
na
l
S
v.
O
d
o
ri
k
a
The Saltpans of Se~ovlje/
Se~oveljske soline
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 Se~ovlje 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 Se~ovlje 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 Se~ovlje Saltpans Landscape Park on January 26th, 1990. A natural reserve spec-
ified 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 Se~ovlje saltpans was due to excep-
tional 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 Se~ovlje 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 Se~ovlje 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
Se~ovlje 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 dis-
puted area on the southern bank of the Canal of St. Odorick is specified as a bird reserve in documents
of the Se~ovlje 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 Se~ovlje 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 level-
ling 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 Se~ovlje 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 Se~ovlje bor-
der 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 (@okalj 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 [kodelin, Bu`ini, [krile and Mlini (Zakon o ustanovitvi… 1994). Croatia calls those villages
[kudelin, Bu`in, [krilje and Mlini. Croatia deems the territory to be its own and also has de facto con-
trol over it. From the Croatian perspective of the time (Serbian occupation of Slavonia and Krajina and
Acta geographica Slovenica, 48-2, 2008
341

Primo` Pipan, Border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia along the lower reaches of the Dragonja River
presence of UN troops on its soil) the act was understood as a radical change of Slovenian foreign poli-
cy and interpreted as unilateral annexation of land (Klemen~i}, 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 Bu`ini, [kodelin
and [krile (Zakon o spremembah… 1994).
6A 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 (Klemen~i}, 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 Se~ovlje.
According to one of the surveyed people staff of the post in Se~ovlje regularly delivered mail to all dis-
cussed 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 Se~ovlje. 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 Se~ovlje.
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 [kodelin
was connected to the Croatian telephone network in 1995. There was an interesting case in [kodelin 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 region-
al 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 significant-
ly 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 Se~ovlje-Plo-
vanija major road were given house numbers of Se~ovlje in 1999. Only Mr. Jo{ko Joras placed the Se~ovlje
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 Se~ovlje Land Registry District south of the
Dragonja River where villages Bu`ini, Mlini, [kodelin and [krile are located have preserved their Slovene
identity (Miheli~ 2007, 150).
342

7Drnov{ek-Ra~an agreement
The most serious attempt to establish the border between the two countries so far that included the dis-
puted area along the Dragonja River was the so-called Drnov{ek-Ra~an 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 oppo-
sition of Croatian legal experts.
The grounds for determining land border were border as at the date of independence of both coun-
tries, 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 of land (including a part of the Se~ovlje 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: Bu`ini, [kodelin
and [krile (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 (Bu`ini 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; [lamberger 2001; [uligoj 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 compen-
sated on the entire maritime border.
8Conclusion
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 uti possidetis« (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 situ-
ation 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 colo-
nial 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 ([ebenik 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 ([ebenik 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 …« ([ebenik 2007, 837).
Acta geographica Slovenica, 48-2, 2008
343

Primo` Pipan, Border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia along the lower reaches of the Dragonja River
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-Ro`ej, 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 dis-
pute 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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347

Primo` Pipan, Mejni spor med Hrva{ko in Slovenijo ob spodnjem toku reke Dragonje
Mejni spor med Hrva{ko in Slovenijo ob spodnjem toku reke Dragonje
DOI: 10.3986.AGS48205
UDK: 911.3:341.222(497.4:497.5)
COBISS: 1.02
IZVLE^EK: ^lanek obravnava mejni spor med Hrva{ko in Slovenijo ob spodnjem toku reke Dragonje,
ki je postal aktualen po osamosvojitvi obeh dr`av leta 1991. Ob dolo~itvi morske meje v Piranskem zali-
vu je to najbolj vro~a mejna to~ka na meji med dr`avama. Obmo~je z zaselki Mlini-[krile, Bu`ini in [kodelin
literatura imenuje »obmo~je ob Dragonji«, »obmo~je dvojne evidence« ali »primer {tirih naselij«. ^lanek
najprej ori{e razloge za nastanek ju`ne meje ob~ine Piran z geografskega in gospodarskega vidika. Osre-
doto~i se na spremembe meje s pravnega vidika v ~asu med in po drugi svetovni vojni. Na podlagi terenske
raziskave opi{e dejansko stanje na terenu v obdobju zadnjih 60 let. V sklepu ori{e mednarodnopravno
na~elo »uti possideti« in njegove morebitne implikacije na obravnavano obmo~je.
KLJU^NE BESEDE: politi~na geografija, meje, mejni spori, Istra, Hrva{ka, Slovenija, Uti possidetis.
Uredni{tvo je prejelo prispevek 13. oktobra 2008.
NASLOV:
Primo` Pipan, univ. dipl. geograf
Geografski in{titut 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 349
2 Metode 349
3 Zgodovinsko-gospodarske razmere
do druge svetovne vojne 350
4 Spremembe meje ob~ine Piran med
in po drugi svetovni vojni 351
5 Odlok in sklepa IOLO, obmo~je dvojne
evidence in njene posledice v prostoru 352
6 Pogled s terena 354
7 Sporazum Drnov{ek-Ra~an 355
8 Sklep 355
9 Literatura 356
348

1Uvod
Meje v naravi so obi~ajno 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 konkret-
nem za~rtovanju v prostoru na neslutene te`ave. Meja med posameznimi obmo~ji ni vselej ali celo nikoli
povsem ravna ~rta, ampak jo ozna~ujeta zlasti neenakomernost in premi~nost. Meja med morjem in kopnim
je zaradi valovanja in plimovanja conalna in jo podajamo z izrazom »obala«, ki ponazarja nekak{en vme-
sni del, kjer prihaja do prepletanja tako kopnih kot morskih elementov. Podoben primer je meja med vzpetim
in nizkim svetom, med kra{kim in nekra{kim svetom in {e bi lahko na{tevali. Ker se posamezni pojavi in
elementi v naravi prelivajo drug v drugega, je delitvena potreba izrazito ~love{ka (Bufon 1996, 177–178).
Od 13. stoletja dalje se je v Evropi namesto prostorsko {ir{ega iz latin{~ine izhajajo~ega izraza »fronteria«
ali »frontaria«, ki ozna~uje {ir{e obmejno obmo~je, uveljavil bolj linearni termin »granica«, ki izhaja iz
polj{~ine. Nadome{~anje conalnega koncepta meje z linearnim izra`a prehod od ofenzivnega k defenziv-
nemu dru`beno-politi~nemu sistemu in te`njo po defenitivnem urejanju lastne zemlje, posesti, skratka
»obvladanega sveta« (Bufon 2001).
Izraz slednjega na mikro ravni sta zemlji{ki kataster kot geodetski pojem in zemlji{ka knjiga kot sod-
ni pojem. Ju`na meja katastrske ob~ine Se~ovlje, ki spada v ob~ino Piran, je vir mejnega spora med Slovenijo
in Hrva{ko. Problem je stopil v ospredje po letu 1991, ko je obravnavano obmo~je, kjer gre za isto kul-
turno pokrajino, prvi~ v zgodovini razdelila dr`avna meja. V obdobju SFRJ je bila to namre~ republi{ka
meja med republikama znotraj enotne federalne jugoslovanske tvorbe (Pipan 2007). V istem obdobju se
je pojavil {e mejni spor v Piranskem zalivu, v zadnjem obdobju pa celo o njegovom zemljepisnem poi-
menovanju, saj ga hrva{ka stan vse pogosteje imenuje Savudrijska Vala (Kladnik in Pipan 2008).
Obmo~je ob spodnjem toku reke Dragonje, z zaselki Mlini-[krile, Bu`ini in [kodelin, pred njenim
izlivom v Piranski zaliv po kanalu Sv. Odorika, je po letu 1994 postalo znano kot »primer {tirih naselij«
in je zaradi dolo~anja izhodi{~ne to~ke za dolo~itev bodo~e meje na morju ena izmed najbolj vro~ih to~k
v mejnem sporu med Slovenijo in Hrva{ko. Po podatkih Geodetske uprave Republike Slovenije ozemlje
meri 113 hektarov (Bela knjiga… 2006, 178), po hrva{kih podatkih pa naj bi merilo 121 hektarov (Kle-
men~i}, Schofield 1995). Kljub temu da razli~ni dokumenti omenjajo {tiri naselja, danes dejansko obstajajo
trije zaselki. Poleg zaselka Mlini se vzhodno od magistralne ceste Se~ovelje-Plovanija pojavlja zemljepi-
sno ime [krile.
Do ob~utno pove~anega zanimanja v zvezi s problematiko obravnavanega obmo~ja prihaja v obdob-
ju pred volitvami v eni ali drugi dr`avi. Mejni problem ob spodnji Dragonji je bil ve~je pozornosti dele`en
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 obmo~je, po {estih desetletjih navzkri`ij z vidika katastra in administraci-
je, po nedavno nastali mednarodni meji med dr`avama, doletela {e zunanja meja Evropske unije in
schengenskega prostora. ^lanek ori{e vzroke, ki so pripeljali do mejnega spora in opi{e problematiko na
obravnavanem obmo~ju.
2Metode
Mejni problem med Slovenijo in Hrva{ko na spornem obmo~ju ob spodnji Dragonji so z geografskega
in zgodovinskega vidika v svojih ~lankih in delih obravnavali `e {tevilni slovenski, hrva{ki in tuji avtorji
(Klemen~i} in Schofield 1995; Blake in Topalovi} 1996; Gosar in Klemen~i} 2000; Darovec in Gosar 2004;
Kristen 2006; Miheli~ 2007). ^etudi pogoje za dolo~anje meje ustvarjata geografija in zgodovina, so ti dolo-
~eni s pravnim aktom. Namen ~lanka je raziskati kateri pravni akt je vplival na to, da si tako Slovenija kot
Hrva{ka lastita sporno obmejno obmo~je. Pregledal sem literaturo s podro~ja geografije, zgodovine, med-
narodnega prava in Uradnih listov, poudarek pa je tudi na kartografskem gradivu. Zaradi `elje po globljem
vpogledu v dejansko stanje na terenu v zvezi s katastrsko, administrativno in funkcionalno problemati-
ko obravnavanega obmo~ja sem kot metodo uporabil intervju. Na prou~evanem obmo~ju in v njegovi
neposredni sose{~ini sem intervjuval 5 prebivalcev. Intervjuji so bili opravljeni v aprilu in maju 2004. Zara-
di sprememb v zvezi z mejnim re`imom povezanih z vstopom Slovenije v Evropsko unijo in schengensko
obmo~je so bili nekateri izmed njih ponovno intervjuvani leta 2006.
Acta geographica Slovenica, 48-2, 2008
349

Primo` Pipan, Mejni spor med Hrva{ko in Slovenijo ob spodnjem toku reke Dragonje
3Zgodovinsko-gospodarski razmere do druge svetovne vojne
Zgodovinski vzrok za mejni spor so spremembe meje ob~ine Piran. Njene katastrske meje so nastale kot
posledica razli~ne 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 ribi{-
tvo. Ker se ~lanek ne ukvarja z razmejitvijo na morju bo podrobneje predstavljena le vloga solinarstva.
Se~oveljske soline so skupaj s tistimi v Strunjanu in nekdanjimi solinami v Luciji del Piranskih solin.
Piransko solinarstvo ima verjetno korenine `e v antiki, saj prvi pisni viri o njih segajo v 13. stoletje.
Kakor ostale soline na obmo~ju severnega Jadrana, so tudi te nastale ob izlivu vodotoka v morje. Ta
je bil osnovni pogoj za njihov nastanek. Fluvialna erozija vztrajno ni`a [avrinska brda, zgrajena iz eocen-
skega fli{a in gradivo izpira v pore~je 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 {irili na
novo nastajajo~o ravnico proti zahodu. Lokacija solin se je s~asoma pomikala proti morju, spro{~ene zaled-
ne povr{ine v notranjosti pa so namenili poljedeljskim povr{inam (Savnik 1951; Kri`an 1990; Darovec 2001;
^rnivec, Pipan in @abjek 2006).
Najpomembnej{i tehnolo{ki mejnik v njihovem delovanju se je zgodil leta 1377, ko so po vzoru dal-
matinskih solinarjev z otoka Paga na dnu kavedinov ali kristalizacijskih bazenov za~eli izdelovati »petolo«.
To je posebna naravno gojena podlaga iz sadre, ki jo ustvarijo mikroorganizmi, pome{ani s povr{inskim
blatom in prepre~uje me{anje soli z blatom. Od tedaj dalje je piranska sol zaradi izredno kakovostne peto-
le kristalno ~ista, bela in dobrega okusa, brez primesi peska ter ostalih ne~isto~. Zaradi izredno visoke
kakovosti so »belo zlato« za~eli prodajati v {ir{e zaledje, pa tudi na {ir{e obmo~je Evrope in celo na Bli`-
nji 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 {ir{ega bene{kega
koncepta vzpostavljanja monopola nad solno trgovino (Holz 2001).
Kako zelo pomembne so bile Se~oveljske soline za Bene{ko Republiko govori dejstvo, da so proizved-
le ve~ino 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 predstav-
ljala strate{ko surovino saj je bila glavna sestavina za konzerviranje hrane. Trgovina s soljo je dosegla velik
razmah zlasti po letu 1578, ko so Bene~ani zaradi gospodarskega zapleta s habsbur{kim cesarstvom po{-
kodovali tr`a{ke soline, ki so dokon~no propadle leta 1617. Po propadu Bene{ke Republike so Francozi
na ozemlju Ilirskih provinc uvedli popoln dr`avni monopol na sol. Tr`i{~e se je ob~utno zmanj{alo, saj
so francoske oblasti prepovedale prodajo soli v avstrijske de`ele, izvoz preko morja je bil zaradi angle{ke
pomorske blokade nemogo~, v Lombardiji in Furlaniji pa je bila na tr`i{~u cenej{a francoska sol.
S prihodom pod avstrijsko oblast se je leta 1827 ponovno po celotni habsbur{ki monarhiji uveljavil
dr`avni monopol nad soljo in se obdr`al do za~etka 20. stoletja. Zaradi dobre kakovosti so sol prodajali
v Tur~ijo, posamezni trgovci pa celo v Severno in Ju`no Ameriko, Indijo in skandinavske de`ele (Bonin 1992).
Delo v solinah je bilo izrazito sezonsko. Zima je bila ~as za obnovo solinskih nasipov ter poglabljanje
kanalov, poletje pa sezona za pobiranje soli. Ker je v obdobju poletne sezone v solinah `ivelo in delalo
ve~ sto ljudi, je bil drugi pomemben pogoj za delovanje solin oskrba z zadostno koli~ino kakovostne pit-
ne vode. Vodotoki, ki se iz (vododr`nih) fli{nih [avrinskih brd s severa in vzhoda stekajo proti Se~oveljskih
solinam so se izkazali za nezanesljiv oskrbni vir, saj imajo submediteranski re~ni re`im, za katerega sta
zna~ilna hudourni{ki zna~aj in presihanje strug v poletnih mesecih. Edini stalni vir kakovostne pitne vode
so {tevilni kra{ki izviri na stiku vodonosnika Bujskega krasa z aluvialno ravnico reke Dragonje na ju`ni
strani Se~oveljskih solin. Solinarji so tjakaj dnevno hodili po vodo z lesenimi posodami ali z glinenimi
vr~i. Eden izmed tak{nih izvirov so bile na primer Fontanele (Starec 2001, 127). Vrsta sladkovodnih izvi-
rov je tudi v morju vzdol` Savudrijskega polotoka, kjer se pod vodo me{ata sladka in slana voda. Dva tak{na
ve~ja izvira sta Velika in Mala Luknja (Oro`en Adami~ 1980, 162).
Zaradi strate{kega pomena oskrbovanja solin s pitno vodo z izvirov pod Bujskim krasom je ob~ina
Piran pod svoje okrilje `e davno vklju~ila bli`nje zaledje vzpetega sveta Se~oveljskih solin na Bujskem kra-
su in Savudrijskem polotoku kar ka`eta slika 1 in slika 2.
350

Slika 1: Ob~ina Piran je v preteklosti obsegala tudi obmo~je k. o. Savudrija ter k.o. Ka{tel. (Piano Topografico… 1882).
Glej angle{ki del prispevka.
Slika 2: Upravna razdelitev Istre v letih 1926–1945 (^ermelj 1945; Darovec 1992, 59), za obmo~je ob~ine Piran to velja do 1947, ko je bilo
ustanovljeno STO.
Glej angle{ki del prispevka.
4Spremembe meje ob~ine Piran med in po drugi svetovni vojni
Vzroki za spremembo ju`ne meje ob~ine Piran segajo v ~as druge svetovne vojne, ko se je za~ela obliko-
vati bodo~a razmejitev med Slovenijo in Hrva{ko v Istri. Slovenski Narodnoosvobodilni Svet (SNOS) je
z namenom priprave izhodi{~ za slovenske dr`avne meje po vojni ustanovil Znanstveni in{titut, katere-
ga predsednik je bil dr. Fran Zwitter. Sodelavci Znanstvenega in{tituta so se pri na~rtovanju povojnih meja
usmerjali prvenstveno v {tudije slovensko-italijanske, slovensko-nem{ke in slovensko-mad`arske etni~-
ne meje, mejo s Hrvati pa so kot neproblemati~no pu{~ali ob strani (Miheli~ 2007, 149).
Pri dolo~anju izhodi{~ za mejo s Hrva{ko v Istri elaborati niso temeljili na terenski raziskavi, ampak
na zgodovinski literaturi starej{ega datuma. Enostavno so se oprli na »Zemljovid Slovenske de`ele in pokra-
jin«, ki ga je leta 1853 izdal Peter Kozler. Razlog za to odlo~itev je bilo splo{no nepoznavanje razmer na
terenu, saj tega obmo~ja slovenski znanstveniki v obdobju med obema vojnama niso mogli podrobneje
preu~evati, ker je spadalo pod Italijo.
Ohranjeni so zapisniki za {est sej Znanstvenega in{tituta, ki so bile 26. januarja 1944 na bazi 13–23,
7. februarja 1944, verjetno na bazi 13–23, 22. februarja 1944 v ^rnomlju, 20. marca 1944 v Semi~u, 1. ma-
ja 1944 v ^rnomlju in 30. junija 1944 v Semi~u. Razen teh sej je bila {e posebna seja 20. marca 1944 v Semi~u,
ki se je je udele`ilo 19 udele`encev, med katerimi so bili tudi zunanji sodelavci in{tituta ([kerl 1965, 36).
Mag. Du{an Fatur je na osnovi popisanih gradiv zasedanj Znanstvenega in{tituta in SNOS ugotovil
da, ~e je bilo na vseh zasedanjih, ko so govorili o meji porabljenih 100 ur, je bilo za mejo v Istri na raz-
polago le 20 minut (Arhiv Ministrstva… 2008).
Eden izmed rezultatov teh zasedanj je tudi karta predloga razmejitve med Slovenijo in Hrva{ko v Is-
tri, ki jo je pripravil dr. Fran Zwitter. Za osnovo je vzel karto »Upravna podjela Istre« iz leta 1918, ki prikazuje
katastrske ob~ne in na kateri so imena katastrskih ob~in v hrva{kem jeziku. Na karti, kjer sta z modro-rde-
~im u~iteljskim barvnim svin~nikom vrisani dve razli~ici meje v Istri glede na to ali katastrske ob~ine
Topolovec, Gradin, So~erga, Movra`, ^rnica in Rakitovec pripadejo Hrva{ki ali Sloveniji, je na obmo~-
ju spodnje Dragonje za~rtana ena sama ~rta. Ta poteka po dolini reke Dragonje, a ne po reki Dragonji
ampak po ju`ni meji tedanje katastrske ob~ine Piran (slika 3). Karto hrani Arhiv Republike Slovenije
(AS 1420).
Slika 3: Predlog razmejitve med Slovenijo in Hrva{ko v Istri, ki jo je pripravil dr. Fran Zwitter (AS 1420).
Glej angle{ki del prispevka.
@e leta 1943 je med slovenskimi in hrva{kimi partizanskimi enotami in prebivalstvom v severni Istri
prihajalo do nesporazumov glede voja{kih akcij, oskrbovanja in mobilizacije. Za ureditev nesoglasij sta
se 10. februarja 1944; tri dni po prvem zasedanju Znanstvenega in{tituta, v vasi Malija nad Izolo v hi{i
{t. 10, na pobudo hrva{ke organizacije, sestala tajnik okro`nega odbora OF Milan Gu~ek in zastopnik pokra-
jinskega komiteja KPH Andrija Babi}. Rezultat njunega sre~anja je bil dogovor o voja{ko-operativni
razmejitvi delovanja obeh osvobodilnih gibanj. Milan Gu~ek v svojih spominih navaja: »…Z Andrijo sva
slonela nad geografsko karto in sva se kaj lahko sporazumela. Meja bo tam, kjer se kon~a ozemlje in govori-
jo ljudje {e izrazito slovensko. Tako dale~ je pravzaprav segala organizacija na{e Osvobodilne fronte, tukaj se
prebivalci sami ~utijo Slovence. In sva kar za~rtala mejo in sproti ocenjevala vasi. Za~ela sva pri izlivu Dra-
gonje v morje s konca Se~oveljskih solin, nato sva {la ves ~as po toku te re~ice do vasi Topolovec, nato jugovzhodno
pod vasjo Pregara, proti vzhodu nad [trpedom pred Buzetom in proti Vodicam. Podala sva si roke. Sedaj ne
bo ve~ nesporazumov, ~igavo je kaj. Morda sva tudi opravila delo za bodo~e republi{ke meje. Kdo ve? …« (Gu-
~ek 1959; Marin 1998).
Ta dogovor je bil sklenjen neodvisno od Znanstvenega in{tituta in tudi ni v skladu s Zwitterjevo kar-
to (slika 3). Ta voja{ko-operativna razmejitev med slovensko in hrva{ko partizansko vojsko je tudi prva
Acta geographica Slovenica, 48-2, 2008
351

Primo` Pipan, Mejni spor med Hrva{ko in Slovenijo ob spodnjem toku reke Dragonje
etni~na razdelitev Istre med Slovenci in Hrvati. Voja{ko-operativni razmejitvi navkljub so se pozneje te`a-
ve {e pojavljale, posebno zaradi poskusov hrva{kih partizanskih enot po mobilizaciji slovenskega
prebivalstva preko ~rte organizacijsko-teritorialne razmejitve (Celar 2002).
10. februarja 1947 je bila v Parizu podpisana mirovna pogodba z Italijo, ki je za~ela veljati 15. 9. 1947,
istega dne pa je bilo ustanovljeno Svobodno tr`a{ko ozemlje (STO). Zakonodajni organ cone B STO, ki
je bila pod voja{ko upravo Jugoslovanske armade, je bil Istrski okro`ni ljudski odbor (IOLO). Cona B je
bila razdeljena na dva okraja: Koper in Buje. Dotedanja enovita ob~ina Piran je bila razdeljena med dva
okraja. V skladu z odlo~itvijo Znanstvenega in{tituta za mejo po dolini reke Dragonje sta katastrski ob~i-
ni Savudrija in Ka{tel, ki sta prej spadali v upravno ob~ino Piran, po novem pripadli kasnej{i hrva{ki ob~ini
Buje, v okraj Buje (slika 4). Zemlji{ki knjigi za obe katastrski ob~ini sta bili iz sodi{~a v Piranu prenese-
ni na sodi{~e v Bujah.
Slika 4: Izsek z zemljevida iz priloge v knjigi Cadastre national de l'Istrie (Cadastre …1945; Darovec 1992, 74).
Glej angle{ki del prispevka.
5Odlok in sklepa IOLO, obmo~je dvojne evidence
in njene posledice v prostoru
V nasprotju s stali{~em Znanstvenega in{tituta kakor tudi s katastrskim na~elom je verjetno pod vplivom
dogovora Gu~ek-Babi~, mejo po dolini reke Dragonje Odlok o ureditvi ljudskih sodi{~ Istrskega okro`-
ja, ki je 1. 9.1947 iz{el v prvi {tevilki Uradnega lista Istrskega okro`nega ljudskega odbora (IOLO), dolo~il
na reki Dragonji. Ta je jurisdikcijo nad ozemljem ju`no od reke Dragonje (tudi del k. o. Piran III ju`no
od reke Dragonje) s sodi{~a v Piranu prenesel na sodi{~e v Bujah. Njegov 10. ~len se glasi: »…Okrajno ljud-
sko sodi{~e v Bujah posluje v svojem dosedanjem sodnem obmo~ju, okrajni ljudski sodi{~i v Piranu in Kopru
poslujeta v istih sodnih podro~jih, v katerih sta poslovali pred ukinitvijo samostojnega okrajnega sodi{~a v Pi-
ranu, vendar le severno od reke Dragonje …« (Odlok… 1947).
Zaradi ve~stoletne navezanosti prebivalcev ob Dragonji na ob~ino Piran, se leta 1948 prebivalci Mlinov
odloku uprejo in zahtevajo ponovno umestitev v Slovenijo oziroma v krajevni ljudski odbor Se~ovlje, posle-
di~no s tem pa k okrajnemu sodi{~u Piran.
Zahtevo prebivalcev Mlinov je potrdil sklep V. rednega zasedanja IOLO, z 29. 6.1948 v Piranu. Zapi-
snik tega zasedanja je iz{el v 6. {tevilki 2. letnika Uradnega lista vojne uprave JA jugoslovanske zone STO
in IOLO, 30. 10. 1948. Njegov 3. ~len, ki govori o organizacijskih vpra{anjih se glasi: »… Tajnik Izvr{ilne-
ga odbora tov. Laurenti Eugenio poro~a o organizacijskih izpremembah v organih ljudske oblasti, nato pa poda
sedanje stanje razmejitve med krajevnimi ljudskimi odbori. Kon~no predlo`i dopis prebivalcev naselja Muli-
ni (Sv. Odorik), ki prosijo, naj bi jim IOLO dovolil odcepitev od KLO-a Kastel okraj Buje ter priklju~itev k KLO-u
Si~jole, kamor so vezani gospodarsko in kulturno. Tej pro{nji se soglasno ugodi, odobri se tudi soglasno celot-
no poro~ilo Laurenti-ja …« (Zapisnik V… 1948).
Dobro leto dni pozneje isto zahtevajo {e prebivalci Bu`inov in [kodelina. Njihovo zahtevo je potrdil
sklep VIII. rednega zasedanja IOLO z 17. in 18.7. 1949 v Kopru. Zapisnik tega zasedanja je iz{el v 1. {te-
vilki 4. letnika Uradnega lista vojne uprave JA jugoslovanske zone STO in IOLO, 25. 1.1950. ^len 9 c se
glasi: »… del zaselka Bo`ini s hi{ama {tevilka 1019 in 1020, KLO Ka{tel, okraj Buje, se priklju~i zaselku Bo`i-
ni v obmo~ju KLO Se~ovlje, okraj Koper …« (Zapisnik VIII… 1950).
Oba sklepa, ki sta »razveljavila« predhodni odlok, je ravno tako kakor odlok sam, sprejel isti organ,
ki je na~eloval coni B STO. Objavljena sta bila v istem glasilu, ki je izhajalo v vseh treh uradnih jezikih
cone B STO; hrva{kem, italijanskem in slovenskem. Sklepa IOLO sta ozemlje ob~ine Piran oz. katastrske
ob~ine Piran III., ki je bila leta 1953 preimenovana v katastrsko ob~ino Se~ovlje zopet raz{irila na ozek
pas ozemlja ju`no od reke Dragonje in kanala sv. Odorika do meje s katastrsko ob~ino Savudrija in Ka{tel,
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 Tr`a{kim vpra{a-
njem 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 temve~ po katastrski meji (AS 1529, 9).
352

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 angle{ki del prispevka.
Na podlagi Memoranduma o soglasju oziroma Drugega londonskega sporazuma 5.10. 1954, se je ita-
lijanska civilna uprava z manj{imi ozemeljskimi popravki raz{irila na cono A STO, jugoslovanska pa na
cono B STO. Memorandumu je sledil jugoslovanski zvezni Zakon o veljavi ustave, zakonov in drugih zvez-
nih pravnih predpisov na ozemlju iz 27.10., na katero se je z mednarodnim sporazumom raz{irila civilna
uprava Federativne Ljudske republike Jugoslavije, ki okraj Koper dodeli Sloveniji, okraj Buje pa Hrva{ki
(Zakon o veljavi ustave… 1954). Zakon o raz{iritvi veljavnosti ustave, zakonov in drugih predpisov na
Koprsko obmo~je iz 4.11. je slovensko jurisdikcijo raz{iril na novo pridobljeno ozemlje (Zakon o raz{i-
ritvi … 1954). Zakon o obmo~jih okrajev in ob~in iz 30. 6. 1955 dolo~a, katere katastrske ob~ine sestavljajo
obmo~je Slovenije. V Slovenijo je vklju~ena k.o. Se~ovelje v celoti, tudi obmo~je ju`no od Dragonje (Za-
kon o obmo~jih… 1955).
V teh zakonih ni govora o meji temve~ le o ozemlju, saj se je namre~ smatralo, da je bila meja dolo-
~ena `e z odlokom IOLO in sklepoma IOLO. Spremembe meje med Slovenijo in Hrva{ko v Istri so bile
v obdobju od 1945 do 1956 med najbolj dinami~nimi na celotni meji med obema republikama. Kljub
temu, da sklepa IOLO nikoli nista bila preklicana, pa s strani Hrva{ke nikoli nista bila v celoti spo{tova-
na. Vir nesporazuma je v nepriznavanju veljavnosti sklepov IOLO glede na odlok IOLO, saj Hrva{ka zastopa
stali{~e, da je sklep s pravni{kega vidika hierarhi~no ni`ji od odloka. Trdi, da bi moral biti odlok IOLO
popravljen le z novim odlokom IOLO. Na podlagi sklepov IOLO, pa kljub mnogim zahtevam Hrva{ke,
niti zemlji{ka knjiga niti kataster za (za del k.o. Se~ovlje ju`no od Dragonje) iz Pirana nista bila prene-
sena v Buje. Zaradi tega lahko to obmo~je imenujemo obmo~je dvojne evidence, saj ga imajo v razli~nih
evidencah tako slovenska ob~ina Piran, kot tudi hrva{ka ob~ina Buje.
Slika 6: Obmo~je dvojne evidence med Slovenijo in Hrva{ko na kopnem ob reki Dragonji.
Glej angle{ki del prispevka.
Ker je ozemlje katastrsko del ob~ine Piran in ga Geodetska uprava Republike Slovenije vodi v svojih geo-
detskih podlagah, je bilo vklju~eno v dolo~eno rabo tal, ki pa je s tisto na Hrva{kem celo v navzkri`ju. Parcele
na spornem ozemlju so vpisane v Piranskem katastru, ki ima arhivske podatke in zemlji{ko knjigo z zbirko
listin. Med 1992 in 1994 so jih na Hrva{kem vnesli tudi v zemlji{ko knjigo v Bujah (Velkavrh 1998, 84–86).
Stara struga reke Dragonje deli Se~oveljske soline na severno, {e danes aktivno obmo~je Lera ter na
ju`ne opu{~ene Fontaniggie. Na slednjih, kjer se je vse do zadnjega ohranil srednjeve{ki na~in pridelave
soli, so s proizvodnjo zaradi neekonomi~nosti prenehali leta 1967. Na zapu{~enih Fontaniggiah so posto-
poma svoje stalno ali za~asno zato~i{~e na{le {tevilne ptice, druge `ivali in rastline. Za soline, ki so bile
od nekdaj v prvi vrsti predvsem ekonomska kategorija se je pri~elo obdobje, ko so v ospredje za~ele sto-
pati druga~ne vrednote, kot so kulturna in naravna dedi{~ina, rekreacija in prosti ~as. 26.1. 1990 je ob~ina
Piran razglasila Krajinski park Se~oveljske soline. Odlok med naravnimi rezervati v sklopu parka navaja
tudi »Stare soline«, ki se nahaja na ju`nem 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« najpomembnej{e obmo~je za drsti{~e rib v parku. Del Se~oveljskih solin
je bile zaradi izjemnih krajinskih in ekolo{kih vrednot leta 1993 kot prvo mokri{~e v Sloveniji uvr{~en na
seznam ramsarskih lokalitet; UNESCOVA konvencija o varstvu in rabi mokri{~. Vlada Republike Slove-
nije je 5. aprila 2001 na pobudo kulturnega ministrstva in Zavoda za varstvo kulturne dedi{~ine Piran
sprejela Uredbo o Krajinskem parku Se~oveljske soline (Uredba o Krajinskem parku… 2001). Raven za{-
~ite Se~oveljskih solin in muzeja solinarstva se je tako z ob~inskega dvignila na dr`avno raven. ^eprav v KPSS
spada tudi obmo~je ju`no od kanala Sv. Odorika, ta z njim po letu 1991 v praksi nikoli ni upravljal, saj
je dostop do njega mo`en le skozi hrva{ki mejni prehod Plovanija, ~esar pa hrva{ki mejni organi ne dovo-
lijo. Tak{no stanje traja {e danes, ~eprav je roko nad parkom v letu 2001 od ob~ine prevzela dr`ava. Primer
navzkri`ja v rabi prostora je tudi ta, da je del spornega obmo~ja na ju`nem bregu kanala Sv. Odorika gle-
de na dokumentacijo Krajinskega parka Se~oveljske soline dolo~en kot pti~ji rezervat. Na istem obmo~ju
je ob~ina Buje razglasila lovi{~e.
Med 10. in 21.6. 1991 je slovenska stran, na lokaciji ju`no od reke Dragonje, kjer se danes nahajajo
poslopja hrva{kega mednarodnega mejnega prehoda Plovanija, za~ela s pripravljalnimi gradbenim deli
Acta geographica Slovenica, 48-2, 2008
353

Primo` Pipan, Mejni spor med Hrva{ko in Slovenijo ob spodnjem toku reke Dragonje
za izgradnjo slovenskega mednarodnega mejnega prehoda Se~ovlje. Tja je bilo pripeljano 56 tovornja-
kov materiala, ki naj bi slu`il za izravnavo terena za bodo~a mejna poslopja. 21. junija, {tiri dni pred
osamosvojitvijo, je pri{lo do ostre hrva{ke reakcije, ~e{ da Slovenija objekt gradi na hrva{kem ozemlju.
Po ve~urnih telefonskih pogovorih je v Ljubljani padla odlo~itev, da se gradbinci umaknejo. To je bila te`ka,
a pravilna dr`avni{ka odlo~itev, saj so takrat v Beogradu odlo~no nasprotovali gradnji mejnih prehodov
na republi{ki meji. ^e bi pri{lo pri Se~ovljah do odkritega konflikta, bi {lo to odli~no na roko jugoslo-
vanski armadi, ki bi tako imela argument za posredovanje nekaj dni prej, kot v resnici je. Slovenija je za~asni
mejni prehod Se~ovlje kasneje zgradila na severnem bregu reke Dragonje. Hrva{ka je mednarodni cest-
ni mejni prehod Plovanija dogradila leta 1993. Slovensko ministrstvo za zunanje zadeve je glede tega nekajkrat
uradno protestiralo in kljub zagotovilom hrva{ke strani, da je ta lokacija zgolj za~asna, se je izkazalo, da
je to dejansko kon~na lokacija (@okalj Jesih 2005, 14).
Dr`avni zbor Republike Slovenije je 3. oktobra 1994 sprejel Zakon o ustanovitvi ob~in ter o dolo~i-
tvi njihovih obmo~ij, v katerem je razvidno, da so sestavni del ob~ine Piran tudi naselja [kodelin, Bu`ini,
[krile in Mlini (Zakon o ustanovitvi …1994). Na Hrva{kem so naselja znana kot [kudelin, Bu`in, [kri-
lje in Mlini. Ozemlje smatra Hrva{ka za svojega, nad njimi pa tudi dejansko izvaja nadzor. Iz hrva{ke
perspektive tistega ~asa (Srbska okupacija Slavonije, Krajine in prisotnost ~et OZN na njenem ozemlju)
je bila ta poteza razumljena kot radikalen preobrat v slovenski zunanji politiki in je bila interpretirana
kot unilateralno anektiranje ozemlja (Klemen~i} in Schofield 1995). Na osnovi ostrih reakcij Republike
Hrva{ke in v izogib nadaljnjemu zaostrovanju spora je Dr`avni zbor Republike Slovenije na zahtevo Ustav-
nega sodi{~a Republike Slovenije v Zakonu o spremembah in dopolnitvah zakona o ustanovitvi ob~in ter
o dolo~itvi njihovih obmo~ij `e 28. oktobra 1994 v 2. ~lenu zamrznil izvajanje vseh dolo~b le petnajst dni
starega sprejetega zakona o ustanovitvi ob~in ter o dolo~itvi njihovih obmo~ij, ki se nana{ajo na obmo~-
ja zaselkov Bu`ini, [kodelin in [krile (Zakon o spremembah …1994).
6Pogled s terena
Po podatkih iz popisa leta 1991 je v zaselkih ju`no od reke Dragonje v 17 gospodinjstvih `ivelo 53 prebi-
valcev (Klemen~i} in Schofield 1995). Z vidika rednih vsakodnevnih migracij so bili njihovi prebivalci
vseskozi vezani na Slovenijo, saj so se tam {olali, hodili na delo in se vsakodnevno oskrbovali. Na Hrva{-
kem so bili vklju~eni v popise prebivalstva, tam so tudi volili. Leta 1990 niso dobili vabila za udele`bo na
plebiscitu za samostojno Slovenijo, prav tako pa se v Sloveniji niso udele`evali referendumov in volitev
v samostojni Sloveniji, saj so bili vklju~eni v register prebivalcev Hrva{ke. V obdobju Jugoslavije so ime-
li prebivalci hrva{ke osebne izkaznice in vozni{ka dovoljenja, njihovi jugoslovanski potni listi so bili izdani
na Hrva{kem. [e v prvih letih po osamosvojitvi obeh dr`av so bili priklju~eni na slovensko elektri~no (Bela
knjiga … 2006, 178) telefonsko in vodovodno omre`je, po{tne storitve pa je za njih opravljala slovenska
po{ta v Se~ovljah.
Po pripovedovanju enega izmed informatorjev, naj bil uslu`benci po{te v Se~ovljah do leta 1984 v vsa
obravnavana naselja ju`no od Dragonje redno dostavljali po{to. Nato pa je nekega dne upravnica po{te
dolo~ila, da naj prebivalci iz preu~evanih naselij na po{tnem uradu v Se~ovljah sami prevzemajo prispe-
le po{tne po{iljke. Razlog za tak{no uradni{ko odlo~itev naj bi bila bolezenska odsotnost po{tarja, ki je
bil zadol`en za omenjeni rajon in preobremenjenost njegovih kolegov, ki zaradi omejenega ~asa ne bi mogli
razdeliti po{tnih po{iljk tudi v naseljih ju`no od Dragonje. Ta za~asna odlo~itev je s~asoma v praksi posta-
la dokon~na. Danes prebivalcem po{to domov dostavlja podjetje Hrvatska Po{ta. Ve~ina prebivalcev pa
po{tne po{iljke iz Slovenije {e vedno osebno prevzema na po{tnem uradu v Se~ovljah.
Del zaselka Mlini, ki le`i na levem bregu reke Dragonje, je bil preklopljen na hrva{ko telefonsko omre`-
je leta 1993, ko so do tja potegnili kable za objekte mejnega prehoda Plovanija. Naselje [kodelin je bilo
na hrva{ko telefonsko omre`je preklopljeno leta 1995. Zanimiv je primer iz [kodelina, ko je bilo po podatkih
enega izmed informatorjev, naro~nikom ob preklopu obljubljeno: »… Imat ~ete lokalno tarifo s Koprom
i platit ~ete kao, da imate slovenski …«. Obljuba o lokalni tarifi s strani podjetja Hrvatski Telekom je velja-
la vse do leta 2000, ko je Telekom Slovenije uvedel nov sistem obmo~nih telefonskih skupin. Dotedanja
stara obmo~na skupina »066«, ki je za obmo~je Kopra veljala {e iz obdobja Jugoslavije, je bila spremenje-
na v obmo~no skupino »05«. Prebivalce omenjenih naselij, ki so tudi po pre{tevil~enju omre`nih skupin
v enakem obsegu telefonirali v Slovenijo, so po prvem mesecu neprijetno presenetili ob~utno vi{ji ra~u-
354

ni za Hrvatski Telekom (65–80 EUR), saj so bili vsi pogovori zara~unani kot mednarodni telefonski pogo-
vori.
V praksi imajo skoraj vsi prebivalci naselij ju`no od Dragonje stalno prebivali{~e prijavljeno {e pri
kak{nem od sorodnikov ali prijateljev v ob~ini Piran, tja {e vedno vsakodnevno migrirajo na delo, v {o-
lo in se oskrbujejo. Poleg hrva{kega imajo tudi slovensko dr`avljanstvo.
Delu zaselka Mlini (7 hi{), ki se nahaja ju`no od reke Dragonje in zahodno od magistralne ceste Se~ov-
lje – Plovanija, so bile leta 1999 dodeljene hi{ne {tevilke naselja Se~ovlje. Tablico z napisom Se~ovlje {t. 1
je na svojo hi{o izobesil edino gospod Jo{ko Joras.
Na podlagi zemlji{ke knjige v Piranu lastniki zemlji{~ na spornem obmo~ju pla~ujejo katastrski doho-
dek Sloveniji, najemniki pa najemnine Skladu kmetijskih zemlji{~ in gozdov Republike Slovenije. Problem
se pojavlja, ko ista zemlji{~a, ob~ina Buje prodaja drugim interesentom s ~imer prihaja tudi do sporov
dveh lastnikov oziroma najemnikov istih zemlji{~.
Kljub vsemu so {tevilni prebivalci dela katastrske ob~ine Se~ovlje ju`no od Dragonje, kjer le`ijo zasel-
ki Bu`ini, Mlini, [kodelin in [krile, ohranili zavest o slovenski pripadnosti (Miheli~ 2007, 150.)
7Sporazum Drnov{ek-Ra~an
[e najresnej{i poskus dolo~itve meje med dr`avama, ki vklju~uje tudi obravnavano sporno obmo~je ob
Dragonji je bil t. i. Sporazum Drnov{ek-Ra~an (tedanja premierja). Vladi Slovenije in Hrva{ke sta 19. ju-
lija 2001 potrdili Pogodbo med Republiko Slovenijo in Republiko Hrva{ko o skupni dr`avni meji. ^eprav
sta vladi sporazum parafirali `e naslednji dan (20. 7.2001), ni pri{lo do ratifikacije zaradi velikega nas-
protovanja hrva{ke pravne stroke.
Izhodi{~e za dolo~itev meje na kopnem je bila meja na dan osamosvojitve dr`av 25. junija 1991. Najtr{i
oreh je bilo njeno dolo~anje ob Dragonji. Dr`avi sta se dogovorili, da mejo med dr`avama na obravna-
vanem obmo~ju dolo~a struga reke Dragonje. Vseh spornih 113 hektarjev obmo~ja (skupaj z delom
Se~oveljskih solin ju`no od Dragonje), ki je uradno {e vedno vpisanih v piranski zemlji{ki kataster in nad
katerim dejansko izvaja nadzor Hrva{ka, naj bi po sporazumu pripalo ju`ni sosedi. To pomeni, da bi vsi
sporni zaselki: Bu`ini, [kodelin, [krile (in del Mlinov) z 20 hi{ami in pribli`no 60 prebivalci pripadli Hrva{-
ki. Za njihove prebivalce so se dogovorili o nekaterih ugodnostih, ki bi bile ve~je kot jih predvideva Sporazum
med Republiko Slovenijo in Republiko Hrva{ko o obmejnem prometu in sodelovanju (SOPS) iz leta 2001.
Pri uvozu iz Slovenije bi bili opro{~eni pla~ila carin in drugih dajatev, lahko bi pridobili slovensko dr`av-
ljanstvo, Slovenija bi jim omogo~ila izkori{~anje zdravstvenih, {olskih in drugih storitev na svojem ozemlju.
Poleg tega je Hrva{ka pristala, da lahko Slovenija {e 30 let ~rpa pitno vodo iz dveh ~rpali{~ (Bu`ini in Gabri-
jeli). Sporazum na tem obmo~ju upo{teva vrsto okoljevarstvenih in naravnovarstvenih ukrepov oziroma
na~el (Ivanc 2001; [lamberger 2001; [uligoj 2001).
Na podlagi dejstva, da bi po sporazumu Hrva{ki pripadlo obravnavano sporno obmo~je na kopnem
ju`no od Dragonje, bi glede na dotedanja stali{~a Hrva{ke, na celotni morski meji pri{lo do ustreznega
nadomestila v korist Slovenije.
8Sklep
Temelj oblikovanja dr`avnih meja med nekdanjimi republikami SFRJ po njenem razpadu so mnenja Arbi-
tra`ne komisije Konference o Jugoslaviji, ki se je ukvarjala z re{evanjem odprtih vpra{anj prihodnjih odnosov
med republikami, njen vodja pa je bil predsednik francoskega ustavnega sodi{~a Robert Badinter.
Arbitra`no mnenje {t. 3. govori o tem da je "notranje meje med biv{imi republikami mo~ spremeniti le
z vzajemnim in svobodnim sporazumom. V kolikor ne bo druga~e dolo~eno, bodo nedavne medrepub-
li{ke meje dobile zna~aj dr`avnih meja, ki jih {~iti mednarodno javno pravo pri vsem spo{tovanju na~ela
»status quo in uti possidetis iuris« (Celar 2002, 160).
Na~elo »uti possidetis«, je bilo sprva uporabljeno pri re{evanju problemov dekolonizacije v Ameriki
in Afriki. »Uti possidetis iuris« se uporablja, ~e je razmejitev pravno dolo~ena, kot je bila npr. kopenska
razmejitev med administrativnimi oziroma federalnimi enotami (socialisti~nimi republikami) nekdanje
SFRJ. V takem primeru obstaja pravni naslov, na podlagi katerega je mogo~e ugotoviti pravno stanje pred
Acta geographica Slovenica, 48-2, 2008
355

Primo` Pipan, Mejni spor med Hrva{ko in Slovenijo ob spodnjem toku reke Dragonje
kriti~nim datumom (25. 6.1991) (Türk 2007, 413–414). Pravni naslov je Meddr`avno sodi{~e opredelilo
kot:
a) nasledstvo novih dr`av glede na prej{njo kolonialno oblast v zvezi z dolo~enim obmo~jem,
b) odloke nekdanjih kolonialnih oblasti, ki so dolo~ena obmo~ja dodelili dolo~eni administrativni enoti,
c) oznako za dokaze, na podlagi katerih je mogo~e sklepati, da je dolo~ena dr`ava upravi~ena do ozem-
lja ([ebenik 2007, 832).
Na~elo »uti possidetis de facto« se uporablja, ~e prvotna razmejitev ni bila pravno dolo~ena, vendar
pa je obstajala dejansko (Türk 2007, 413–414). Po mnenju Meddr`avnega sodi{~a to pomeni ravnanje
upravnih, administrativnih oblasti kot dokaz za dejansko izvajanje teritorialne jurisdikcije na dolo~enem
obmo~ju v kolonialnem obdobju ([ebenik 2007, 832). »… Ko obstaja nasprotje med pravnim naslovom in
dejanskim stanjem, na~eloma prevlada pravni naslov, vendar pa bo sodi{~e v vsakem primeru posebej preve-
rilo, ali ni na podlagi ravnanja dr`av pri{lo do spremembe v pravnem naslovu…« ([ebenik 2007, 837).
Dejstva dokazujejo, da se na spornem obmo~ju ju`no od Dragonje po 25. 6.1991 status quo ni ohra-
nil. Isto~asno so se zgodile spremembe, za katere ni bilo soglasja obeh vpletenih strani. Za re{evanje mejnega
spora med Slovenijo in Hrva{ko so na voljo razli~ni na~ini arbitra` (Zgonec - Ro`ej, 2003). Vsekakor bi
bilo priporo~ljivo, ~e bi pri re{evanju tega spora upo{tevali »na~elo pravi~nosti«, na podlagi katerega je
na primer Sveti Sede` leta 1984 kot mediator v ve~ kot 200 letnem mejnem sporu med Argentino in ^ilom
priporo~il mejo v prelivu Beagle in na obse`nem morskem obmo~ju na jugu Ju`ne Amerike.
Zgled uspe{nih 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 {ele 30 let po nastanku mejnega spora in 21 let po prene-
hanju angloameri{ke voja{ke uprave v STO. ^e vemo, da se re{evanje mejnih sporov meri z dolgoro~nimi
~asovnimi vatli in si za pozitiven zgled vzamemo ~asovni okvir Osimskih sporazumov, imata Hrva{ka in
Slovenija do leta 2021 – torej {e 13 let ~asa, da sami re{ita omenjeni spor.
9Literatura
Glej angle{ki del prispevka.
356