Edin Forto and HDZ's political blockades: Bosnia and Herzegovina will not get a Law on the Sea even in 2025!

By: A. Čorbo-Zećo

The Ministry of Transport and Communications, headed by Edin Forto, took no action regarding the law on the sea in 2024, and will not do so in 2025.

“The work program for 2025 does not plan for the drafting of this law. As this is a complex matter that regulates and affects existing regulations, the drafting of the legal act requires a complex approach and more time for the implementation of activities,” stated the Ministry of Transport in response to MP Nermin Mandra.



We remind you that the Draft Law on the Sea, submitted to the procedure by the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) in 2023, received the support of the Commission for Transport and Communications of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, after which the legislative procedure was suspended.

Therefore, it is clear that the authorities have no interest in resolving this important issue. And the reasons are clear.

Firstly, there is the interest of Dragan Čović, who will by no means look out for the well-being of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but will adhere to the wishes of Zagreb, which has clearly shown its attitude towards this issue by building the Pelješac Bridge.
Since 1999, and the agreement between the then Chairman of the Presidency of BiH Alija Izetbegović and Croatian President Franjo Tuđman on the sea border, our country has been waiting for a legal document that would resolve this important issue concerning territory and sovereignty.

All these years, the narrative has been that BiH does not have free access to the open sea, and the basic condition for exercising this right is the law on the sea, i.e., the definition of territorial waters.

The problem is the demarcation in the Neum waters. BiH claims two islets, Veliki and Mali Školj, and the tip of the Klek peninsula. They are of fundamental importance because the sea border is determined based on land.

However, official Zagreb denies this. And what Zagreb denies, Dragan Čović also denies, and consequently, the representatives of the Trojka parties, who form the government with HDZ and SNSD at the state level, also deny it.

The Law on the Sea would allow for a clear definition of the border with Croatia at sea, traffic, vessels, and passengers would be controlled... As it is, all of this is handled in Ploče. Furthermore, the airspace above BiH's sea, which is used by numerous planes flying to Dubrovnik, would also be clearly defined.