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Steinbuka: Latvia's litigation with EU Commission over crabbing boat arrested in Norway to be long

BC, Riga, 09.05.2018.Print version
The litigation with the European Commission over the arrest of a Latvian crabbing boat in Norway is going to be long, Inna Steinbuka, the head of the European Commission Representation in Latvia, said on the LNT commercial television on May 9th, cites LETA.

She said that Latvia had to take action because the bilateral talks with Norway and the European Commission had failed and the matter remained unresolved.


But the proceedings at the European Court of Justice are likely to be long because the case is complicated, Steinbuka said, voicing hope that eventually the case will be solved.


As reported, Latvian Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis (Greens/Farmers) told the press on May 8 that in the next few days Latvia will file a lawsuit against the European Commission with the European Court of Justice in relation to the arrest of a Latvian crabbing boat in Norway.


Earlier, Kucinskis said that the lawsuit against the European Commission would be filed because the Commission had failed to act to defend the Latvian fishermen's interests. "The crabbing permit was issued to our fishermen by the European Commission, so it should have taken action to help deal with this issue," the Latvian premier said.


A Latvian crab trawler, the Senator, was arrested on January 16, 2017, for fishing snow crab in Norwegian waters around the Svalbard (Spitzbergen) archipelago. The Norwegians insist that the Latvian vessel had been fishing there illegally while Latvia maintains the fishermen had been acting in compliance with international agreements and an EU regulation about the fishing rights in Svalbard.


After the incident the Latvian Foreign Ministry presented a note to the Norwegian Embassy in Riga, asking to release the Latvian crab trawler and not to interfere with crab fishing which has been taking place in accordance with international agreements.


Norwegian Ambassador to Latvia Steinar Egil Hagen earlier insisted that Norway had the authority to issue licenses for crabbing on its continental shelf, and the EU and Latvia could not get such licenses without Norway's consent.






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