Brezovica pri Metliki () is a settlement in the

Municipality of Metlika A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

White Carniola White Carniola (; ; or ''Weiße Mark'') is a traditional region in southeastern Slovenia on the border with Croatia. Due to its smallness, it is often considered a subunit of the broader Lower Carniola region, although with distinctive cultural, l ...

area of southeastern Slovenia, right on the border with Croatia. The area is part of the traditional region of

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region in Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south an ...

and is now included in the

Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region The Southeast Slovenia Statistical Region () is a statistical region in southeast Slovenia. It is the largest statistical region. The development of this region is largely the result of industry (the auto industry, pharmaceuticals, and other light ...

. It surrounds the small Croatian enclave of

Brezovica Žumberačka Brezovica Žumberačka is a settlement in Croatia, part of the Town of Ozalj in Karlovac County. It is located along the Slovene-Croatian border, next to Brezovica pri Metliki, with which it de facto forms one settlement. De jure, it is a Croatian ...

. Toponymic information is based on the Geographic Names Database, containing official standard names approved by the United States Board on Geographic Names and maintained by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. More information is available at the Maps and Geodata link at http://www.nga.mil. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency name, initials, and seal are protected by 10 United States Code Section 425

Name

The name of the settlement was changed from ''Brezovica'' to ''Brezovica pri Metliki'' in 1953.

History

During the Second World War, the

Partisans Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Itali ...

operated an underground mimeograph print shop in a vineyard cottage in Brezovica pri Metliki. The cottage was burned by

Anti-Communist Volunteer Militia The Anti-Communist Volunteer Militia (, MVAC) were paramilitary auxiliary formations of the Royal Italian Army composed of Yugoslav anti- Partisan groups in the Italian-annexed and occupied portions of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during the Second W ...

forces in 1942. On 1 May 1944 the Partisans held a political meeting in the village that was attended by the Allied liaison officer Major William M. Jones, who was also a speaker at the event.

Enclave border dispute

In 2015, the complex border line in this area attracted the attention of the Polish tourist Piotr Wawrzynkiewicz, who learned from Wikipedia that there was a small unclaimed piece of land and claimed it for his

micronation A micronation is a polity, political entity whose representatives claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by any sovereign state. Micronations are classified separately from list o ...

, "Kingdom of Enclava". The novelty attracted international media attention at the time. Later, the Slovene Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that this was Slovenia's territorial claim, also claimed by Croatia, to be resolved by the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, in which a decision was rendered 29 June 2017. Wawrzynkiewicz then relocated his novelty to an unclaimed Croat-Serb border area. One

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

(

) belonging to Croatia had already existed at this location (see diagram). A second enclave was created on 29 June 2017 when the

Permanent Court of Arbitration The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered at the Peace Palace, in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides administrative support in international ...

decided that a disputed 2.4 ha parcel adjoining the enclave is part of Slovenia, thus completing the encirclement of the second Croatian enclave. It was this parcel that had been claimed as "Enclava". When the arbitration decision was issued, Croatia refused to implement it.

References

External links

*
Brezovica pri Metliki on Geopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brezovica Pri Metliki Populated places in the Municipality of Metlika