Pelješac Bridge Association warns that Croatian and European interest is on the line.
“Pelješac Bridge” Association, an NGO which advocates for the construction of the Pelješac Bridge which will connect the southernmost part of Croatia with the rest of the country, points out that in 2012 they launched a petition for the construction of the Pelješac Bridge and sent a series of letters and organized press conferences where they presented all the basic geopolitical reasons why the Pelješac Bridge should be built, reports Večernji List on November 12, 2016.
The Assocation adds that in the last four years the political awareness about the need to construct the bridge has been dramatically improved. Political parties which used to be fierce opponents of its construction, such as SDP and HNS, have changed their positions in the meantime and now support the project.
The government has announced a public tender for the construction of the Pelješac Bridge, but it is being constantly delayed by numerous complaints filed even by companies which have just a few employees and it is obvious that they are not serious contenders for the job.
The Association points out that Croatian national interests are being threatened, first and foremost the free flow of people and goods within the European Union, since Dubrovnik and the area around it are still separated from the rest of Croatia by a small section of the coastline which belongs to Bosnia and Herzegovina and therefore they represent an exclave of the European Union. They say that the non-construction of the bridge is threatening the geostrategic continuity of the territory of NATO and EU and opens up the possibility of creating geostrategic political hot spots.
There is also a problem, according to the Association, of sustainable development of southern Croatia, because “waste is being transported from its territory outside of the European Union, since the question of disposal of municipal waste on Croatian territory has still not been resolved”.
Pelješac Bridge Association says that urgent construction of the bridge would improve communication with southern Croatia, so that shipments of strategic and military importance could be safely transported without leaving the national territory.
Finally, they point out that the government should establish the construction of the Pelješac Bridge as a primary objective which should be implemented as soon as possible, since it would also give impetus to Croatian economy, particularly the construction industry and trade. “But, we would like to emphasize that the Pelješac Bridge is above all a European geostrategic transport project”, concluded the Association.
