The site where the bridge will be built, near the village od Komarna. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Anto

Bosniak politicians in Bosnia have savaged Croatia for starting work on a controversial bridge in Dalmatia, calling the beginning of its construction on Monday an assault on Bosnia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and an act contrary to international law.

The Peljesac Bridge, which will be 2,404 meters long and 55 meters high, is designed to connect the Croatian mainland with its southernmost region, the Dubrovnik–Neretva County, while avoiding crossing Bosnia’s access to the Adriatic Sea around the town of Neum.

The ceremonial start of work on Monday was held in Ston, a town on the Peljesac peninsula, attended by the representatives of the two partners, Croatian Roads [Hrvatske ceste] and China Road and Bridge Corporation, CRBC.

Construction of the bridge has caused anger in Bosnia and Herzegovina, mostly among Bosniak leaders who claim it will stop large ships from entering the port of Neum, Bosnia’s only sea port, and blocking Bosnia’s access to the open sea.

Bosnia also says it has never agreed on a maritime border with Croatia.

By beginning work on the bridge, Croatia “systematically continues to relativise and jeopardise the subjectivity, interests and rights of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, the leader of the Bosnian Social Democratic Pary, Nermin Niksic, declared on Monday.

Niksic accused Croatia of deliberately “undermining the international subjectivity of Bosnia and Herzegovina” and said Bosnian leaders should have “done much more than just periodic correspondence and media advertising on this topic”.

Zeljko Komsic, leader of the Democratic Front and a former member of the Presidency of Bosnia, took the same line, telling the media on Sunday: “Croatia is directly violating Bosnian territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

He added that it was “simply unbelievable that a piece of our country is cut off before our eyes – and that people sitting in Bosnian state institutions have done absolutely nothing”.

For his part, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic stated that the bridge will be built using the highest professional criteria, and with full respect for neighbouring Bosnia.

He told the media in April that the bridge’s 55-meter height would allow boats safe passage into the port in Neum, adding that, as the bridge will be built on Croatian territory, it will not affect the state border with Bosnia.

However, a Bosnian maritime expert, Nesad Alikadic, said Bosnia was working on initiating a legal challenge.

“The chairman of the Bosnian Presidency, Bakir Izetbegovic, has promised and accepted his duty to launch a lawsuit. As far as I know, preparations are underway and I expect Izetbegovic to submit the lawsuit,” he said.

“He doesn’t need the approval or a consensus from the other two [state] Presidency members because parliament’s ‘Declaration on the Peljesac Bridge’ has existed since last year,” Alikadic added.

On September 13, 2017, Bosnia’s parliament made an official objection to Croatia about the proposed bridge, urging it to suspend all activities.

However, there is no political unity in Bosnia on this project. While Bosniak politicians insist the bridge is an attack on state sovereignty, Bosnian Croats do not see anything controversial, and Bosnian Serbs feel uninvolved.

The deadline to complete construction is 36 months, so the bridge should be finished by mid-2021 if all goes to plan.

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