On February 22nd, the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) requested information from the State Border Commission on the progress reached in the negotiations with Serbia on the demarcation line.
Who raised the issue of returning the border between BiH and Serbia to the agenda?
On February 19th, Denis Becirovic, a member of the BiH Presidency, submitted a request that the BiH Presidency consider the report of the State Border Commission.
Which locations are disputed on the border of BiH and Serbia?
These are four localities in the east of BiH, which cover a total of 40 square kilometers.
This is the area of the Zvornik and Bajina Basta hydropower plants, part of the Belgrade-Bar railway (Strpci village, Rudo municipality), as well as the Medjurecje enclave, which is part of the Rudo municipality, but is completely surrounded by the territory of Priboj in Serbia.
Belgrade’s condition for the continuation of negotiations is the simultaneous correction of the border at all four locations, claims Zeljko Obradovic.
The exchange of territories was an option at the end of 2017, when the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, at a meeting with the BiH Presidency proposed the exchange of territories in the municipalities of Rudo and Priboj on the principle of “meter for meter”.
BiH then rejected that possibility.
How long is the border of BiH with Serbia and neighbors?
Namely, the length of the border with Serbia is 302 kilometers, according to data from state institutions. BiH’s border with Croatia is the longest, a total of 1,001 kilometers. The length of the border with Montenegro is 225 kilometers.
BiH only has all border issues regulated with Montenegro, and that was through an agreement signed in Vienna in 2015.
The border with Croatia is disputed around the sea belt of BiH near Neum, the tip of the Klek peninsula, the Veliki and Mali Skoj cliffs and the demarcation on the Una river near Kostajnica, in the northwest of the country.
The agreement was concluded in 2005, but the two state parliaments have not yet ratified it, due to objections from the official Zagreb.
This border was mostly resolved in 1999, with an agreement between the then Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Alija Izetbegovic, and the President of Croatia, Franjo Tudjman, Slobodna Evropa reports.
E.Dz.
