Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec, addressing reporters after the committee's session, which was held behind closed doors, hailed the decision by saying that "experts won over politicians".

Prime Minister Janez Janša did not make statements after the session, which was held after the government decided on Friday to leave it up to parliament to decide what kind of documents Slovenia will submit to the tribunal that will determine the border with Croatia.

Janša had previously termed the proposal of the subject matter of the dispute as drawn up by the Foreign Ministry's task force for arbitration as "not being prepared well".

The conclusion, which the committee carried unanimously, proposes to the government to submit to the arbitral tribunal the memorandum as drawn up by the Foreign Ministry in cooperation with the team of lawyers.

But the committee also proposed a conclusion saying that "Slovenia declares that the task of the arbitral tribunal is to set a territorial junction of Slovenia's territorial waters with the high seas, i.e. retaining Slovenia's right to a contact with the highs seas, which the country had as on independence day 25 June 1991," according to committee chair Jožef Horvat.

"Any ruling by the arbitral tribunal that would not grant territorial contact of Slovenian territorial waters with the high seas, in accordance with Clause 1, point be of Article 3, and Article 4, point b of the Arbitration Agreement, which ensures realisation of Slovenia's vital interest, will be counted as a ruling 'ultra vires', i.e. contrary to the mandate of the arbitral tribunal," Horvat said.