Croatia Rejects Bosnian 'Threats' Over Peljesac Bridge

Gabrijela Zalac, Croatia's minister for regional development, said on Sunday evening that construction of the Peljesac Bridge, which will connect two pieces of Croatian territory that are currently divided by a 14-kilometre stretch of Bosnian coast, will not be stopped.

"No threats can endanger the construction of the Peljesac Bridge, considering that on June 7, the European Commission approved the project," Zalac said.

"There are no international agreements nor state contracts nor anything else that could in some way prevent the construction of this bridge," she added.

Her comments came after Halid Genjac, chairman of the main board of Bosnia's ruling Party of Democratic Action, SDA, said on Saturday that Sarajevo has never given its consent to the building of the bridge because it would be detrimental for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"The construction of the bridge would block this unique maritime link between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the open sea," Genjac told a press conference.

The 2.4-kilometre-long Peljesac Bridge is intended to connect the Croatian mainland with the Peljesac peninsula, giving Croatia a continuous land link that bypasses Bosnian territory.

The current coastal road passes through a sliver of Bosnian territory around the town of Neum, Bosnia's only sea port.
The dispute has been ongoing since 2007, when the construction of the bridge was first announced.

Croatia wants the bridge so its citizens can reach the south of the country without crossing Bosnia's borders. 

But Bosnia has protested that the bridge would prevent large ships from entering the port of Neum, blocking Bosnia's access to the open sea.

Although Bosnia and Croatia share an about 1,000-kilometre-long border, they have never...