Fanfare as Croatia’s Chinese-built bridge finally opens

• China built the 2.4km (1.5 mile) Peljesac bridge, but the European Union funded the majority of it. Croatians previously had to cross Bosnia and Herzegovina territory.
• EU agreed to fund 85 percent of the bridge, totaling €357 million (£300 million). Bosnia’s right to Adriatic coast access dates back to 1699, when Dubrovnik ceded Neum to Ottoman Empire.
• Bosnia is not a member of the EU, and has long complained about its access to the sea. China’s state-owned company won the Croatian bridge contract for less than European rivals.

A long-awaited bridge connecting Croatia’s southern coastal areas to the rest of the country has opened, heralded as one of the most significant moments in Croatian history.

Until now, Croatians had to cross Bosnia and Herzegovina territory.

China built the 2.4km (1.5 mile) Peljesac bridge, but the European Union funded the majority of it.

Throughout the day, there were 250 runners crossing the bridge and small boats with Croatian flags sailing beneath the six pylons.

Residents also took advantage of the opportunity to walk along the first section of the bridge before the day concluded with a glittering firework display.

At the ceremony, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang sent a video message. Andrej Plenkovic, his Croatian counterpart, declared, “Tonight, we are uniting Croatia!” and characterised the bridge as a necessity rather than a luxury.

Traditional boats flying Croatian flags sailed beneath the bridge at the start.
During the opening ceremony, the first official crossing was made by the Rimac Nevera, a Croatian-made electric hypercar.

The EU agreed to fund 85 percent of the bridge, totaling €357 million (£300 million), with cohesion funds for what it said would significantly improve Croatians’ daily lives. It also provided funding for access roads, tunnels, and other infrastructure.

When the former Yugoslavia broke up and Croatia became independent in 1991, the new borders meant that two parts of the Croatian coastline were separated by the Neum corridor, a 9km-long section of Bosnian coastline.

Bosnia’s right to coastal access dates back to 1699, when Dubrovnik – in modern-day Croatia – ceded Neum to the Ottoman Empire.

Because Bosnia is not a member of the EU, anyone attempting to travel north from the mediaeval city of Dubrovnik on the Adriatic’s southernmost coast or cross from the Peljesac peninsula to the mainland had to go through two border checks. The new bridge allows anyone to drive straight along Croatia’s Adriatic coast.

Dragan Jurkovic, the mayor of Neum, told Bosnian TV that the new bridge would reduce traffic along the coast during the summer months and that he could only see benefits from it. However, some restaurateurs and business owners were concerned that the decline would harm the local economy.

Tourists, many of whom are Czechs, Poles, and Germans, have become regular visitors to Neum, where prices are considered much lower than in Dubrovnik, but this is about to change.

The bridge has caused some controversy.

Bosnia initially complained that the bridge would interfere with its access to the sea, but Croatia agreed to raise the bridge’s height to 55 metres (181ft).

The China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), the Chinese state-owned company that won the Croatian bridge contract, bid far less than its European competitors. An Austrian firm filed a complaint, alleging that CRBC was “price-dumping” and receiving Chinese state aid.

According to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua, the bridge opening is expected to deepen mutual trust and expand cooperation between Croatia and Beijing.

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