Leta 1991, takoj po razpadu Socialistične federativne republike Jugoslavije, je razmejitev teritorialnega morja med Slovenijo in Hrvaško v Piranskem zalivu pripeljala do spora med dvema neodvisnima in avtonomnima državama. Tržaški zaliv je bil razdeljen na dva bolj ali manj enaka dela, in sicer na italijanski del ter na del, ki je pripadel nekdanji Jugoslaviji. Razmejitveno območje je na eni strani omejevala hrvaška in slovenska obala ter podedovana italijanska meja na drugi strani. Kopenska meja med Slovenijo in Hrvaško se konča v Piranskem zalivu, ki dejansko leži znotraj Tržaškega zaliva. Ko se je mejni spor med državama iz bilateralne ravni prenesel na mednarodno raven, saj so se pristopna pogajanja prepletala z rešitvijo mejnega vprašanja, sta državi svoj spor prepustili v odločanje arbitražnemu sodišču, ki sta ga ustanovili leta 2009 s podpisanim arbitražnim sporazumom v Stockholmu. Leta 2017 je arbitražno sodišče izdalo končno arbitražno odločbo, s katero naj bi se mejni spod med bivšima jugoslovanskima republikama tudi zaključil. 29. junija je predsednik arbitražnega sodišča Gilbert Guillaume predstavil razsodbo o poteku meja med Slovenijo ter Hrvaško. Slovenija in Hrvaška sta določili mejo na kopnem in na morju. Cilj magistrskega dela je celovit pregled slovensko-hrvaškega ozemeljskega spora, z največjim poudarkom na arbitražni odločbi iz junija leta 2017. Čeprav ima ta mejni spor svoj izvor že v Socialistični federativni republiki Jugoslaviji, se je v celoti razvil za časa osamosvojitve Slovenije in Hrvaške, ko se je prvič pojavilo vprašanje mejne opredelitve.

In 1991, right after the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the delimitation of the territorial sea between Slovenia and Croatia one of the main problems between two countries. The Gulf of Trieste was divided into two more or less equal parts. One part was Italian and the other part was the part of former Yugoslavia. On one side we had the Slovenian and Croatian coast and the Italian inherited coast on the other side. The land border between Slovenia and Croatia has its end in the Piran bay, which is actually the part of Gulf of Trieste. As the Croatian entry into the EU was mixed with the border dispute, it was transferred from the bilateral level into international. The countries decided that the arbitration is the right way to solve the long lasting border dispute, so in 2009 an arbitral tribunal was established and the border dispute was the problem that had to be solved. In 2017 the tribunal issued a final arbitration award, and the border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia about land border and the sea delimitation was solved. My main goal with my master%s thesis is a comprehensive overview of the Slovenian-Croatian border dispute, including the history of solving the problem, with greatest emphasis on the arbitration award from 2017. This border dispute has its roots in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, but its has reached its peak when both of the countries became independent.