Delimitacja obszarów morskich między Polską a Danią

In spite of the negotiations initiated in 1972 Poland and Denmark have not so far managed to effect a delimitation of their maritime areas between Bornholm and Polish coast. This situation constitutes the longest lasting case of unsettled maritime boundary in the Baltic Sea. Even though both countries are parties to 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, they present different interpretation of art. 74 of the Convention, which states that the delimitation of the exclusive economic zones of the States with opposite coasts „shall be effected by agreement on basis of international law, as referred to in Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, in order to achieve an equitable solution Consequently, Denmark considers the disputed area should be divided on the basis of median line. On the contrary, Poland invokes the international judgments and the practice of the States and indicates that boundary should be determined in accordance with the equitable principles, with regard for an existence of several special circumstances, namely geographic and geophysical factors and proportionality calculations. Since the postures of the parties involved are overlapping, there exists south and southeast of Bornholm a disputed area of 3 500 km², similar to this one existing between Gotland and the USSR coast before 1988. The relevant acts of national legislations of either Poland or Denmark illustrate these different claims. Nevertheless, during the recent negotiations round the parties agreed to create a special committee of experts in aim to examine all the possible boundary lines. This fact confirms that it still may be possible for both countries to reach an agreement in bilateral negotiations.