HDZ's Green Transversal to Neum: Sarajevo down the Neretva, along the Neretva

Written by Sead Omeragić

HDZ today issued a statement claiming there is some kind of "green transversal" from "Konjic, Jablanica, (via Stolac and Neum) through which Sarajevo would long-term direct and keep under its direct control, thereby conditioning all future projects".

The key question is whether Sarajevo is more HDZ's than SDA's? HDZ speaks of Sarajevo as exclusively Bosniak politics, as if Čović and Dodik do not hold the entire BiH under constant blackmail and deception. The insinuation about the so-called "green (Muslim) transversal", which Milošević's media 'sold' in the 1990s before the massacre and genocide of Bosniaks, is an identical HDZ attempt at lies.

One should recall when the father of the Croatian nation and unfulfilled great-state advocate Franjo Tuđman said before the Croatian political leaders of the so-called Herceg-Bosna: "Below Konjic and Jablanica, only the grass will be green."

So where does the "green transversal" come from now? In Stolac, Croats barely allow the return of Bosniaks whom they put in camps and expelled during the war, for which there are numerous verdicts of international courts. It is incredible with how much hypocrisy HDZ BiH acts. They talk about a green transversal and the alleged danger from Muslim Bosniaks, while at the same time they approve the closure of the Neum Bay and the creation of a tourist black hole, which everyone will bypass.

Everything that is happening today with Neum is only part of an old wartime scenario. Croatia is building the so-called Pelješac Bridge to make its territory compact, and at the same time, contrary to international laws, is closing Bosnia and Herzegovina's free access to the open sea. The question is what lies behind all this? The Euro-Atlantic factor could be shocked by the final solution to this unusual story, and in essence, big games with an even bigger background.

What Croatia's real plans are for Neum and its minions from HDZ BiH is confirmed precisely by the transcripts that Tuđman kept in the presidential palace with his associates from Croatia and the so-called Herceg-Bosna. On that distant September 15, 1993, in his office, he said:

- I rejected any thought that Muslims could get Neum... Instead of Neum, I told them either a free zone in Ploče, or even the possibility to build themselves a port on the Neretva, since it is navigable to Metković, and probably can be made navigable a few more kilometers upstream.

So, nothing green, except that Tuđman's red lines for Bosniaks are further north.

- Neum is out of the question, but they can have access to the sea in a free zone or if that would not satisfy, the construction of a port in their area can be considered, that is Tasovčići or somewhere around there – proposes Tuđman. Tasovčići in BiH is a land area, above Čapljina and 20 kilometers away from the mouth of the Neretva into the sea. Only later will Tuđman shorten this route down the Neretva by about ten kilometers lower and offer the settlement of Čeljevo, a little below Čapljina. But even that will be, according to Tuđman, a false promise.

On December 9, 1993, in the Hunting Lodge Dobanovci near Belgrade with David Owen and Stoltenberg, the Serbian delegation with Milošević, Karadžić and Krajišnik and the Croatian with Šarinić and Akmadžić met. They marked the topic of conversation as the question: "How to agree on access to the sea for Muslim Bosniaks and the Serbian Republic".

Tuđman did not give Neum, so the trade moved to the fertile valley of Konavle in Croatia, which stretches to Montenegro.
Šarinić then said that in Geneva, positions were presented that through the territory of Konavle, Muslims would be enabled an exit from Molunat to Vitaljina, and Serbs from Vitaljina from Cape Oštro. Karadžić shouted: -Why can't it go to Popović, President Tuđman promised me that!

In further discussions on the Owen-Stoltenberg plan, Croatian President Franjo Tuđman organized a meeting on December 19, 1993, with the leaders of the so-called Herceg-Bosna. The meeting was also attended by Hrvoje Šarinić, then head of Tuđman's office, Mate Granić, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Željko Dobranović, brigadier, Tuđman's advisor for military affairs. They also discuss Neum and shifting borders.

Tuđman then admits to his associates that he talks about the sea coast with the Bosniak side only to stop the war in which the HVO was suffering defeat after defeat. With this, he definitively revealed his hypocritical policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bosniaks:

- They (Bosniaks) could build a port near Čeljevo, with the clear understanding that in perspective, the construction of that port is a pipe dream – said Tuđman. Čeljevo is otherwise more than 10 kilometers upstream from the mouth of the Neretva towards Čapljina.

Mile Akmadžić speaks up, who is more radical than Tuđman and proposes that "the border goes towards the Muslims north, further towards Stolac, from Buna Blagaj upwards.

To eliminate them completely, Mr. President, at least to Čapljina." With this story about ports on the Neretva, one should recall the Mostar negotiations between BiH Serbs and Croats from June 1991. It was agreed: Serbs the left bank, Croats the right bank. "And where will we put the Muslims?", someone asked. "Well, into the Neretva," said a high-ranking HDZ official amid general laughter. At that time, they were not thinking about a dock.

And that is that HDZ's "green transversal".

At that same meeting, Šarinić is in a dilemma:

-What if the Serbs agree to Neum and access to the sea, and then adds: - We offered the Serbs that part of 5.5 kilometers, down there, but they wanted up to Molunat... The Serbs say, we renounce the right to Neum, if you give us here (Konavle), we won't cause you problems.

-If they agreed to a part in Neum, then the matter is resolved – Šušak interjects.

When Bosniaks in Neum are mentioned, then Tuđman and Šušak reject it without thinking, it is a "pipe dream". When Serbs are mentioned, then everything can and must be. In that case, they are generous.

In questions and answers as to why Dodik supports Čović and Čović supports Dodik, some reasons and motives can be guessed. If a third entity were to be realized, demands would follow for a three-way division of BiH's 24-kilometer-long sea coast, which would allocate eight kilometers to each entity. The Bosniak part of the coast would be a "pipe dream", as Tuđman said, while the Serbian part would be a very realistic access to the Mediterranean. Those six kilometers for Dodik would simultaneously be a perfect dream gift for Serbia and the Russian Federation.