Osmanović sends letter to Croatia regarding Pelješac: BiH will unilaterally declare sovereignty over the sea

On the occasion of the announced start of the construction of the Pelješac Bridge, the Minister of Civil Affairs of BiH, Adil Osmanović, sent a letter to the Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Croatia, Oleg Butković, informing him about the existence of legal obstacles to the construction of the bridge.

The letter was also sent to the addresses of the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, the European Commissioner for Enlargement Johannes Hahn, as well as the High Representative in BiH Valentin Inzko and the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to BiH Lars-Gunnar Wigemark.

The letter states that if the ministry, i.e., the competent authorities and bodies of the Republic of Croatia, continue to unilaterally carry out activities regarding the construction of the Pelješac Bridge, it is informed that the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be forced, in accordance with its competencies, to initiate activities for Bosnia and Herzegovina to withdraw from the State Border Agreement between the Republic of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the provisions of Article 22, paragraph (3) of the aforementioned agreement, and will proceed to unilaterally declare the sovereign rights of Bosnia and Herzegovina according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, through a special normative act, as all former Yugoslav countries bordering the Adriatic Sea have done.

- Also, in a later phase, it is not excluded that the protection of Bosnia and Herzegovina's rights at sea, according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, will be sought before the competent judicial authorities, in accordance with the relevant provisions of international law - stated Osmanović. 

He pointed out that at the level of the Inter-State Diplomatic Commission for the Identification, Demarcation and Maintenance of the State Border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia, a proposal for the State Border Agreement between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia was agreed upon in June 1999.

You can read the full content of the letter here.