Saint Gera ( Croatian: "Sveta Gera") or Trdina Peak ( sl, Trdinov vrh) is the highest peak of the

Žumberak Mountains The Žumberak Mountains ( hr, Žumberačka gora, sl, Gorjanci, historic German name: ) is a range of hills and mountains in northwestern Croatia and southeastern Slovenia, extending from the southwest to the northeast between the Krka and the K ...

, at a height of . It is located along the border between southeastern

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, and the summit is subject to a border dispute between the two nations.

Name

The peak was originally called ''Sveta Gera'' in Croatian and ''Sveta Jera'' in Slovene (Mount St. Gertrude) after the 15th-century church of Saint Gertrude some hundred meters from the highest point of the peak. In June 1921, however, the president of the

Novo Mesto Novo Mesto (; sl, Novo mesto; also known by other alternative names) is a city on a bend of the Krka River in the City Municipality of Novo Mesto in southeastern Slovenia, close to the border with Croatia. The town is traditionally considered t ...

Mountaineering Club Ferdinand Seidl proposed to rename it after

Janez Trdina Janez Trdina (29 May 1830 – 14 July 1905) was a Slovene writer and historian. The renowned author Ivan Cankar described him as the best Slovene stylist of his period. He was an ardent describer of the Gorjanci Ridge and of the Lower Carniolan ...

, an ardent describer of the region. The proposal was submitted to the central Yugoslav government, which published a decree on the new name on 1 July 1922. On 15 August 1923, the peak was ceremonially renamed by a Slovene girl, while the accompanying ecclesiastic rituals were performed by a Croatian priest.

Border dispute

At the top of Sveta Gera, at an altitude of 1178 meters, there are a telecommunication tower and a military barracks whose location is strategically important to Croatia. Barracks was used by the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska a ...

(YPA) until early 1991 when its soldiers withdrew from the site following

breakup of Yugoslavia The breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

. In June of the same year, Slovenian soldiers entered barracks on the basis of an oral agreement between Presidents of Slovenia and Croatia,

Milan Kučan Milan Kučan (; born 14 January 1941) is a Slovene politician who served as the first President of Slovenia from 23 December 1991 until 22 December 2002. Before being president of Slovenia, he was the 13th President of the Presidency of SR Slov ...

and

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as p ...

. Croatian President Tuđman considered that it would be better for Croatia to avoid conflicts with a friendly Slovenian army in the west since the country was threatened by hostile YPA from the east. Although Slovenian army announced many times that its soldiers would leave the barracks, particularly in 1998 and 2000, it didn't happen. In 2004, President Kučan stated in an interview for

Večernji list ''Večernji list'' (also known as ''Večernjak''; ) is a Croatian daily newspaper published in Zagreb. History and profile ''Večernji list'' was started in Zagreb in 1959. Its ancestor ''Večernji vjesnik'' ("Evening Courier") appeared for the ...

that it was time for the Slovenian soldiers to leave the barracks, adding that there wasn't a sufficient will of the Slovenian governing officials to do so. On 29 June 2017, the Arbitration Tribunal of the

Permanent Court of Arbitration The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is a non-UN intergovernmental organization located in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides services of arbitral tribunal to resolve disputes that arise ...

that was deciding on another border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia, mentioned in its verdict that Sveta Gera indeed belonged to Croatia but that it neither had jurisdiction to decide on the matter nor it could order Slovenian soldiers to withdraw.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gera, Sveta Mountains of Croatia Mountains of Lower Carniola Territorial disputes of Croatia Territorial disputes of Slovenia Croatia–Slovenia border International mountains of Europe Dinaric Alps One-thousanders of Slovenia Transmitter sites in Slovenia