Chaos in the BiH Parliament: Declaration on the Pelješac Bridge Finally Adopted After Three Rounds of Voting!

The House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH today voted on the Report on activities related to the construction of the Pelješac Bridge and the Report on activities on the implementation of the project for the construction of the interstate bridge over the Sava River near Svilaj and the connecting border sections of the highway on Corridor 5c, submitted by the Ministry of Communications and Transport of BiH, writes the Patria News Agency.

The conclusion of the SBB Party caucus that the House of Representatives "requests the Council of Ministers of BiH to initiate or intensify the procedure for the ratification of the State Border Agreement between BiH and Croatia, signed in Sarajevo on July 30, 1999, within the next 60 days, in accordance with the Law on the Procedure for Concluding and Implementing International Treaties" was not adopted, as there was no majority from Republika Srpska.

The previously proposed Declaration on the Pelješac Bridge, signed by 24 representatives, was not adopted because there was no entity majority! Then, complete chaos ensued in the benches. Borjana Krišto, the Chairperson of the House of Representatives of the PA BiH, refused to give the floor to the Deputy Chairperson Šefik Džaferović, who requested a repeated vote on behalf of the SDA Caucus, but again there was no entity majority. Then, the SDS Caucus requested another vote, after which the declaration was adopted.

Then, an amendment to the Declaration, proposed by SDS representatives, was also adopted. The SDS Caucus submitted its proposal for an amendment to the Declaration with four new points. Among other things, they demand that Croatia and the EU accelerate activities to secure funds for the construction of the bridge on the international road route across the Sava River near Gradiška, so that it can be built and put into international traffic as soon as possible. It is also requested that the Republic of Croatia and the EU recognize the importance and role of BiH in terms of preparing documentation for the construction of the Adriatic-Ionian Highway and agree on its route.

Point 11 calls for resolving the issue of the border between BiH and the Republic of Croatia, recalling the difficult living conditions of the population in the area of the two Kostajnica towns.

Otherwise, the Declaration calls on the competent authorities of the Republic of Croatia, or the European Union, to immediately cease all actions that could aim to diminish or completely abolish the sovereign rights of BiH at sea.

The Declaration states that it is necessary to take legal action regarding the protection of the sovereign rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina at sea.

Experts have previously noted that the construction of the Pelješac Bridge would block Bosnia and Herzegovina's access to the open sea, thereby violating the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea by Croatia.

The European Union has already allocated 357 million euros for the Pelješac Bridge project, but from an interview given by European Commission spokesperson Johannes Bahrke to Večernji list, it can be inferred that Croatia had to agree with BiH regarding this project.