[LINK] "Joining EU, Croatia aims for historic unification"

[rfmcdonald]

When I saw the title of this Reuters article, I was confused. Certainly Reuters wasn't talking about any kind of Croatian annexation of Bosnian Croat communities, since renouncing irredentism was a requirement for Croatian membership in the European Union? But no, instead the article was talking about how a transfer of territory from the Republic of Ragusa--now Dubrovnik--to the Ottoman Empire to ward off the Venetians now, as Croatia enters the European Union while Bosnia-Herzegovina remains outside, threatens to leave Dubrovnik a virtual island or exclave cut off from the Croatian "mainland".

"Venice was Dubrovnik's sworn enemy," says Croatian historian Niko Kapetanic.

But the tiny maritime republic, its walled old town now a UNESCO world heritage site and a magnet for tourists, was far more adept at diplomacy than war. So in 1699, Dubrovnik agreed for the Ottomans to extend their reach to a 20-km (12-mile) strip of thinly-populated Adriatic coastline, creating a land buffer against the encroaching Venetians.

The deal would defend Dubrovnik until the city fell to Napoleon at the start of the 19th century, but it has come back to haunt Croatia as the country of four million people prepares to join the European Union next July.

The short stretch of coastline passed to modern-day Bosnia as the country's only outlet to the sea, growing into the drab resort of Neum and cutting Croatia in two at its southern tip.

From July, tourists and truckers will have to cross the external borders of the EU to go from one part of Croatia to another, negotiating long, costly queues and strict customs checks twice within the space of 20 km.

Diggers are eating into the hillside to upgrade the border crossings, but even then many trucks, particularly those carrying foodstuffs, face being routed via ferry from the mainland to the Peljesac peninsula and on to Dubrovnik to avoid leaving EU territory.

How to bridge Neum, perhaps literally, has become the focus of an acrimonious row, stirring nationalist passions and reviving controversy over where the border actually belongs.

[. . .]

Under pressure from the EU to find a solution, Croatia has revived a proposal to build a 2,400-metre bridge to Peljesac at an estimated cost of 250 million euros ($315.12 million), finally linking Dubrovnik to the rest of the country without having to go through Bosnia.

Construction would take several years. But Nikola Dobroslavic, the prefect of Dubrovnik county, says it is Croatia's "historic and national obligation".

Bosnia says the bridge threatens its access to open seas and would prefer a closed road corridor in the hinterland above Neum, an option Croatia is also exploring.

If it does insist on the bridge, Bosnia says, Croatia must first formally hand over control of two uninhabited islets, Veliki (Great) Skolj and Mali (Little) Skolj and the tiny tip of the Klek peninsula, that Sarajevo claims as its own.

"You can't build anything without first knowing who owns what," Bosnian Communications and Transport Minister Damir Hadzic told Reuters.