Neum Agreement

The Neum corridor or Neum corridor is at the narrowest point 5 km wide strip of territory belonging to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Croatian territory separated on the mainland ( Dubrovnik -Neretva ) into two parts. The coast of the corridor on the Adriatic Sea, with the town of Neum, the only direct access to the sea for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Situation for Croatia

Problem

The location of the Neum corridor, the problem arises that intra- Croatian road traffic on the D8 ( Jadranska Magistrala ) must traverse Bosnian Herzegovinian territory between Ploce and Dubrovnik in Croatia. For the planned Autocesta A1 along the coast to Dubrovnik there is both the problem of border controls and the exact route.

The situation was exacerbated dramatically by the accession of Croatia to the European Union on 1 July 2013. The border to the Neum corridor thus became the EU's external border, to the appropriate people and customs checks must be performed. Thus, the transit traffic through the Neum corridor was much more complicated. The planned accession to the Schengen agreement would further exacerbate this situation.

Solutions

To solve this problem, Croatia has started on 24 October 2007 with the construction of the Peljesac Bridge, which would allow a connection to the peninsula of Peljesac, bypassing the Neum corridor. For financial reasons, the construction was stopped in 2010. On 17 May 2012, the contracts were terminated for the construction of the bridge by the Croatian state; the project is therefore shelved. Was again considered this (or a lower-cost ) bridge in July 2012 with a view to partial funding by the EU.

Instead of the bridge Croatia is now aiming at the construction of a transit highway without border controls and entry way to Bosnia and Herzegovina through the Neum corridor. But no concrete plans do not yet exist. Since the construction of the highway could not be realized until the EU accession, the building of a ferry instead of the bridge is now under discussion. This could be critical of people and goods traffic bypass the Neum corridor.

Situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Even if the Neum corridor has a direct connection to the Bosnian-Herzegovinian motherland and no exclave is, brings the situation for Bosnia and Herzegovina disadvantages. Thus, the main road M17.3 is the only road link to the rest of the country. This narrow and poorly maintained road leads on a curved road over the mountains to the M6 Stolac. Due to the poor road links the traffic to and from Neum is handled primarily through Croatia.