ZAGREB, August 1, 2018 – The Croat member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Presidency, Dragan Čović, said on Wednesday that questioning the construction of the Pelješac Bridge was only a part of the election campaign by Bosniak parties, adding that this could not in any way affect the implementation of the largest infrastructure project in Croatia.
Speaking to the press after a Presidency meeting in Sarajevo, Čović said that the issue of Pelješac Bridge construction was not on the Presidency’s agenda and that the country’s state authorities had never adopted any decision opposing the construction of the bridge.
He added that this was why there was not even a theoretical possibility that someone, acting on behalf of Bosnia and Herzegovina, might sue Croatia over the Pelješac Bridge before an international court, as has been announced by Presidency Chairman Bakir Izetbegović and Chairman of the Council of Ministers Denis Zvizdić.
“These statements were solely made for election campaign purposes by some political groups in Sarajevo. After the elections, some other topics will come along and no one will talk about the bridge anymore,” Čović said.
He went on to say that the country’s EU path had come to a standstill because of the early election campaign which led to the blockade of negotiations on changing election legislation.
Čović said that Bosnia and Herzegovina could already have been granted EU membership candidate status had it changed its election law. Now it has been given additional questions as part of the European Commission’s membership questionnaire and will have to answer them and then wait for a final opinion from Brussels.
“It is quite certain we will not be given candidate status in this election cycle. We will have to wait for a new government and parliament to be formed,” he concluded.
