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| PLEA FOR A CONTINENTAL SHELF 05/09/2008 |
| (2008-09-05) |
| Last updated: 2008-09-09 14:39 EET |
This week, Romania has been in the limelight at the International Court of Justice in the Hague. Both Romanian diplomats and foreign experts have defended Romania’s case in the trial filed against Ukraine for the delimitation of the two countries’ continental shelf and exclusive trade areas in the Black Sea. The dispute was triggered by the status of the Serpents’ Island, which is essential for tracing the demarcation line for a surface of 12 thousand square metres.
The major stakes here are actually huge reserves of natural gas and oil, which, if exploited, would spare Romania imports for the next 20 years. The trial in the Hague could be the final chapter in a file that has been an issue on Romanian diplomacy’s agenda for many years now. In 1948, following the tracing of the Romanian – Soviet borders, the new Pro-Moscow communist regime showed its gratitude by ceding the Serpents’ Island to Stalin.
Subsequent negotiations between Moscow and Bucharest for the delimitation of the continental shelf started in the 1960’s and stopped in 1986, without any conclusions being drawn, so Romania was forced to call for international brokerage. For the Romanian experts the situation is clear: unpopulated, stretching across only 17 hectares and having no drinking water resources, the island is just a promontory, and therefore, in keeping with international law, Kiev cannot extend its exclusive economic area around it.
Aware of the vulnerability of their position, the Ukrainians have lately resorted to forcefully populating the island. They have placed there a border guards post, a few barracks, a hotel and a bank. Bucharest’s agent in the Hague, Bogdan Aurescu stated that Kiev’s attempts to change the promontory’s status were futile.
“ Ukraine has taken an unfair advantage of its right to use its own territory, in this case the Serpents’ Island. Why? To affect the rights of another state, Romania, which is against the provisions of the international convention on the Sea Law”
Bogdan Aurescu concluded that Kiev’s initiative cannot have legal consequences in this case. According to the procedure, next week is Ukraine’s turn to plead its case. There will follow a new round of pleas, and, in the end, Romania’s and Ukraine’s closing arguments. The international court will reach a verdict within 6 months and the verdict will be final and binding.
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