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GeoPolitical Boundaries

Kosovo and Macedonia have reached a border agreement, ending a long dispute over a volatile border region. Kosovo’ parliament ratified the agreement on the location of the border late Friday. Prime Minister Hashim Thaci told a parliament session the agreement will boost regional cooperation and stability.

Macedonia’s parliament has yet to ratify the document. The country’s official news agency MIA says Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki stressed the importance of the border demarcation before the parliament Saturday. The border agreement will pave the way for establishing diplomatic relations between the two Balkan countries.

Macedonia has recognized Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence from Serbia, but says it will not establish diplomatic relations before the border issue is resolved. The disputed area is populated by ethnic Albanians, who make up a quarter of Macedonia’s two million people. A group of ethnic Albanian militants led an anti-government insurgency at the disputed border in 2001. Police say the area is now used by smugglers.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (BGIS) — Representatives of the government of Barbados and the government of France on Friday signed an agreement on the delimitation of the maritime space between Barbados and France. Signature of the accord was effected on behalf of the government of Barbados by Senator Maxine McClean, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and on the French side by Michel Trinquier, non-resident Ambassador of France to Barbados.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Maxine McClean, and France’s non-residential Ambassador to Barbados, Michel Trinquier, signing the agreement.

The Agreement delimits the overlap of the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zones of Barbados and France (in respect of Martinique and Guadeloupe) and, furthermore, provides for the delimitation of the potential overlap between the parties in the maritime space beyond 200 nautical miles, commonly referred to as the extended continental shelf. Both Barbados and France have made submissions to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) with respect to the delineation of the outer limits of their respective continental shelves and are cooperating in that regard.

The signing of this Agreement represents the culmination of three rounds of formal negotiations held between May 2006 and November 2007. The fact that Barbados and France were able to reach such speedy agreement bears testimony to the atmosphere of cordiality and mutual respect within which the negotiations were conducted.

In remarks following the signing ceremony, both Minister McClean and Ambassador Trinquier recalled the traditionally warm and cooperative relations that exist between Barbados and France and expressed deep satisfaction at the significant milestone recorded in the relationship through the conclusion and signature of the maritime delimitation treaty.

McClean hailed the Agreement as a tribute to what can be achieved when states approach potentially challenging issues in a spirit of genuine partnership and cooperation. Barbados and France established diplomatic ties in May 1968.

Siti Nurhalisa

Sebagai negara kepulauan dengan kawasan laut yang sangat luas, masih banyak orang Indonesia yang memiliki pengetahuan tak memadai tentang persoalan kemaritiman. Kasus-kasus terkait klaim maritim atau batas maritim sangat mudah menyulut emosi masyarakat yang berdampak buruk. Kasus Ambalat yang terjadi beberapa waktu lalu, misalnya, adalah sebuah indikasi hal itu. Isu hilangnya atau diklaimnya pulau oleh orang atau negara lain juga sangat mudah menjadi berita nasional yang provokatif.

Meskipun dalam hal tertentu saya setuju dengan seorang kawan bahwa provokasi semacam ini dapat meningkatkan nasionalisme rakyat Indonesia, saya tetap yakin bahwa harus ada pihak yang tetap jernih memberi pencerahan dan mengatakan kebenaran. Masih banyak orang yang harus tahu duduk perkara sesuatu peristiwa sebelum memutuskan untuk mengganyang atau mengangkat senjata, apalagi yang dimiliki hanya bambu runcing.

Beberapa waktu lalu saya sempat memaparkan persoalan kemaritimen, terutama terkait kasus Ambalat, di sebuah forum di Paris yang dihadiri oleh banyak orang dari berbagai disiplin ilmu berbeda. Menyampaikan persoalan kemaritiman yang tidak sederhana kepada orang yang tidak berlatar belakang relevan adalah tantangan tersendiri. Saya memutuskan untuk menyampaikan kasus Ambalat dengan berbagai animasi yang dikaitkan dengan isu seksi seperti Siti Nurhalisa yang konon mau diselamatkan meskipun Malaysia sendiri hendak diganyang. Cara ini ternyata cukup efektif untuk membuat orang memperhatikan dan akhirnya bersedia memahami.

Seorang yang memutuskan untuk memilih jalan menuju ‘ahli’ memiliki berbagai tantangan; Tidak saja untuk menjadi ahli itu sendiri, tetapi yang lebih sulit justru adalah membagi keahlian itu kepada orang lain. Dunia maritim pun demikian adanya. Meski semestinya menjadi hal yang lumrah di Indonesia, kenyataannya masih banyak yang harus membagikan ilmu dengan cara yang sederhana dan mudah dipahami agar semakin banyak yang mengerti. Berikut saya sajikan makalah yang dinyatakan sebagai juara umum di Paris termasuk presentasinya yang juga diterima dengan baik oleh khalayak.

Fakta ini sempat menyulut pertanyaan di Milis RSGIS Forum. Pasalnya, Pulau Miangas memang terbukti meyakinkan milik Indoneisa, bukan Filipina.

Setelah dilakukan penelusuran di Peta NKRI terbitan Bakosurtanal, 2009. Yang salah adalah Google Earth. Pulau yang dilabeli Pulau Miangas itu ternyata bukanlah Pulau Miangas-nya Indonesia. Pulau Miangas Indonesia berada jauh di sebelah timurnya seperti tampak pada gambar berikut.

Semoga informasi ini bisa menjelaskan situasi dan tidak ada perang hanya gara-gara pihak tidak semestinya memberikan informasi tidak akurat di Internet.

amhist.ist.unomaha.edu

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the world was faced with a new meaning of borders. Arguably, the fall of the Berlin Wall appeared to tell us that borders were no longer required. For the first time, the expression “borderless world” was used. It was also supported by similar ideas such as globalization, free trade, etc. Our world seems to be borderless, where the exchange of goods and services is much easier than before. Does it mean that borders are no longer important?

Continue…

static.guim.co.uk

A joint American-Canadian cruise exploring the frigid Arctic Ocean has mapped broad swaths of the extended continental shelf for the first time, scientists reported Thursday.

While the researchers divulged few details, saying it will take time to analyze the data, they said they had discovered a massive seamount and what could be an extinct underwater volcano during the 41-day mission.

Debbie Hutchinson, a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey still aboard the Canadian Coast Guard’s Louis S. St-Laurent, said the group used advanced technology to precisely map unexplored territory.

“From the seismic data, we’re seeing features that we hadn’t imagined existed,” Hutchinson said in a telephone news conference with U.S. and Canadian reporters. “It’s a very promising data set and one that will keep us busy for many months to come.”

Researchers on the St-Laurent suspect they’ve detected an underwater volcano, while scientists aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy have mapped in three dimensions a seamount rising 3,600 feet from the seafloor. It is 16 miles long and 4 miles wide and lies roughly 700 miles north of Alaska.

The joint mission, in which the two ships took turns breaking the sea ice and collecting data, is part of an effort by both countries to determine how much of the extended continental shelf belongs to them. Under an international treaty process, both countries must lay claim to this territory — which is likely to boast considerable oil and gas reserves — by 2013.

“It makes more sense to do it together, in a friendly manner,” said Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Lisa Raitt. “We are all excited about the potential that is out there. We are really in an area that no one has explored before.”

The exploration, which began in early August, is the second U.S.-Canadian joint cruise in the Arctic.

The Canadians are collecting seismic data while the Americans are taking bathymetric data, which maps the contours of the seafloor.

David A. Balton, the deputy assistant secretary of state for oceans and fisheries, said the United States has now made five mapping expeditions to the extended continental shelf and “while all of them have been successful, this one has gone just far beyond our expectations.”

The U.S. and Canadian governments are likely to have competing claims in the Arctic, and the value of the resources that lie both on and beneath the shelf could be increasingly important as warmer temperatures make the area more accessible. Balton said the data were not being collected to resolve any potential boundary conflicts, but rather to determine “how far the outer continental shelf extends from shore.”

The researchers did encounter some technical problems as they ventured to the far north. At one point the St-Laurent’s seismic equipment failed, so the Canadians decided to break ice for the U.S. ship instead of collecting their own data.

Maggie Hayes, who chairs the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf Task Force, said that while the data being collected now may help determine what sort of resources will be extracted in the Arctic in the future, that would not be for several years.

“Certainly there’s an economic element in this,” Hayes said. “There are resources that we’ll have to make decisions about managing and conserving, when the time comes.”

Japan's CS proposal

The U.N. commission on seabed claims said Friday that a sub-panel has begun to examine Japan’s bid to extend its continental shelf in the western Pacific to a gigantic resource-rich seabed.

Last November, Japan filed an application with the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, asking it to recognize the extended area as Japan’s continental shelf, which would give it priority over the exploitation of seabed resources.

The seabed in question lies near Okinotorishima, about 1,700 km south of Tokyo, and is 740,000 sq. km in size — about twice as large as Japan’s total land area.

If the U.N. commission recognizes the seabed as Japan’s continental shelf, Tokyo would be given priority to claim seabed resources such as gas and oil fields.

Croatia and Slovenia have finally reached agreement on continuation of Croatia’s EU accession negotiations. The two countries agreed to continue negotiations over their maritime-border dispute that has been blocking the opening of additional chapters in Croatia’s EU accession negotiations.

Agreement was reached today (Fri) in Ljubljana, Slovenia between Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor and Slovene Prime Minister Bourut Pahor. Pohor promised Slovenia would no longer block the opening of additional chapters in Croatia’s EU accession negotiations. He stressed both countries were winners in the case.

They said the agreement protected the interests of both countries and their peoples. Kosor and Pahor agreed it would open a new chapter of “friendship and mutual respect” in bilateral relations. The meeting ended with a coffee in the city centre and a friendly kiss upon Kosor’s departure.