The government wants to resolve the issue of better transport connection of the Dubrovnik region with the rest of Croatia in cooperation with the European Union and it will do that in the next three and a half years, and the construction of the Peljesac bridge is not ruled out either, Transport Minister Sinisa Hajdas Doncic said on Monday.
The government and the European Commission agreed to draw up a strategy for connecting Croatia's, namely Europe's territory, which is expected to be completed in July and which contains several solutions, one of which is most definitely the construction of a new bridge.
A redefined study has been prepared and it is 30 per cent cheaper than the previous study, Hajdas Doncic told reporters.
The final decision will be made after the completion of the study, which is expected in July, and for us it is very important that the transport connection will be financed by the EU, Hajdas Doncic said.
The Peljesac bridge is viewed as a long-term transport connection with the Dubrovnik area, southernmost Croatia. The future bridge between Croatia's mainland and its peninsula of Peljesac would bypass a stretch of the coast at Neum where Bosnia and Herzegovina has access to the Adriatic Sea and would ensure Croatia's territorial continuity. The transit of people across the border and transit through Neum, until a permanent solution is found as to how to connect parts of Croatian and hence EU territory, was considered during Croatia's EU entry talks.
