The opposition leader emphasised that Croatia could not let other countries decide on the bridge.

"The basic thing is that the Peljesac Bridge will be built and I can't see at this moment why we should discuss the issue with Bosnia and Herzegovina," Karamarko said.

"We can't let others decide on the resolution of the problem which is called the discontinuity of Croatia's territory. This is a matter of the sovereignty of the Republic of Croatia," he said, adding that Bosnia was a friendly country and that the bridge would also be built for the sake of safe and high-quality access to the port of Neum, a short stretch of coastal land where Bosnia and Herzegovina has access to the Adriatic Sea, which cuts off Croatia's south from the rest of the country.

Croatian and Bosnian transport ministers, Sinisa Hajdas Doncic and Damir Hadzic agreed at a meeting in Zagreb recently to set up expert teams to draft an agreement on a transport corridor through the Bosnian coastal town of Neum by the end of October, in accordance with consultations on this issue that had been held between Croatia and the European Commission.

Hajdas Doncic said that the joint negotiating position reached by Croatia and the European Commission was that the issue of a transport corridor through the Neum area could only be resolved by a bilateral agreement between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which would include Croatia's transport sovereignty in the corridor. Hajdas Doncic said that the Croatian government was trying to resolve the issue of connecting Croatia's southernmost tip with the rest of the country as soon as possible, but certainly before July 1, 2013 when Croatia is due to join the European Union.

Hadzic, too, said that Bosnia and Herzegovina wanted the issue to be dealt with through dialogue. He said that the agreement on the transport corridor through Neum should also define the unobstructed use of the nearby Croatian port of Ploce by Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"We believe that a solution can be reached soon. We accept the EU's mediation and in that way we want to confirm our complete commitment to helping Croatia. We don't want to act like Slovenia," Hadzic said on that occasion.

Speaking of Croatia's plan to connect its territory by building, with financial support from EU funds, a bridge between the mainland and the Peljesac peninsula in order to bypass Neum, Hadzic said that the construction of the bridge would presuppose resolution of issues relating to the state border and compliance with international conventions, such as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.