prijava
SARAJEVO, October 1 (FENA) - Minister of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Adil Osmanović has recently initiated a procedure with the BiH Attorney's Office to initiate legal proceedings for the protection of the interests of Bosnia and Herzegovina that belong to it as a maritime state.
“This is just another one in the continuity of our activities when it comes to preserving the sovereignty of BiH, both on land and at sea. We want for BiH, in accordance with the United Nations Convention, as a Maritime State to have free access to the open seas,” Minister Osmanović said today.
He reminded that he had earlier sent a letter to the Minister of the Sea and Transport in the Croatian Government, Oleg Butković, and requested that before the start of the construction of the Pelješac Bridge a meeting to be held between the state commissions and to complete the process of demarcation at the sea.
“I sent a letter to the BiH Attorney's Office to address the International Maritime Court in Hamburg, which is competent when it comes to the United Nations Convention, and for that court to render a final decision as to whether international rights of BiH under the UN Convention have been violated,” said Minister Osmanović.
Answering the journalists’ questions whether it is too late now for such activities, he said that it is not, and that the International Court in Hamburg must also issue a recommendation to suspend all the works until a final decision is made.
“What is very important is that no document from any institution in BiH exists when it comes to the potential consent given to the Republic of Croatia to start building that bridge. In this case, the Republic of Croatia, together with the European Commission, completely circumvented BiH in the decision making process with regards to the Pelješac Bridge.
There is one and only document, which is a decision of the Presidency of BiH from 2007, stating unequivocally that BiH cannot give consent to the construction of the Pelješac Bridge until the verification of the border demarcation at sea is done, that is, until both parliament pass this decision,” concluded Minister Adil Osmanović.
(FENA) S. R.
