According to Hajdas Doncic. the initial indications from the talks which Croatia's team consisting of him, Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic, Deputy Prime Ministers Neven Mimica and Branko Grcic is conducting with European commissioners are encouraging Croatia to try reach agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The southernmost part of Croatia should be connected with the rest of the country by a route that would bypass a small stretch of land at which Bosnia and Herzegovina has access to the Adriatic Sea, which cuts off Croatia's south from the rest of the country. The solutions should be applied with Croatia's accession to the European Union, set for 1 July 2013 , and the enforcement of the Schengen Agreement.

Croatia is encouraged to reach an agreement with Bosnia on a corridor through Neum, Bosnia, regarding the interconnections between Croatia's south and the rest of the country, according to the Croatian minister.

In the event that this agreement on the uninterrupted traffic through the Neum corridor is not reached, Croatia can start talks on the construction of a new redefined project about the bridge connecting the southernmost peninsula of Peljesac and the mainland.

"If we fail to agree with Bosnia, then we will try to talk about the construction of the redefined Peljesac bridge project," he said.

He expressed his deep conviction into the readiness of the European Commission to help in this matter.

The minister announced possibilities for applying the Peljesac project for funding through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) or through the Regional Development Fund in the next programming period.

More information will be available soon, he added expressing hope that it might happen before the summer recess.

"The construction of the Neum corridor will be faster and cheaper. However, if we can't get a bilateral agreement with Bosnia, the EC is ready to consider in the next period a possibility for co-financing the construction of a new Peljesac bridge," Hajdas Doncic said.

Asked whether this meant that the Peljesac bridge was not a priority, but an alternative to the Neum corridor, the Croatian official said the government and his ministry had prepared several proposals for interconnections between the south and the rest of Croatia.

We will know more about that in ten days' time, he added.

Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said he believed it was possible to construct the Peljesac bridge through the use of European Union funds.

"This is a project that for us has definitely a European dimension. This is a typical cohesion project which is huge for Croatia but not so big for the European Union and the (European) Commission. However, this is not yet a guarantee that we will make it, we do not make promises in advance," Milanovic said.

Milanovic stressed that this project had a European dimension and that it was important for Croatia which, however, did not possess the necessary fund of EUR 400 million for that purpose.

"Our task is to interconnect the country in an acceptable and affordable manner," the SDP leader and premier said.