Croatia opens bridge around Bosnia to get to Dubrovnik
Croatia celebrated the opening of a long-awaited bridge linking its southern Adriatic coast including Dubrovnik with the rest of the country, bypassing a narrow strip of Bosnian territory.
The 2.4-kilometre span reaches out from the Croatian mainland to the Peljesac peninsula that connects with the southern part of Croatia's coastline nestled between the sea and the Dinaric Alps.
Festivities started with musical performances and a boat race, while dozens of pedestrians snapped pictures on the bridge ahead of a ceremony this evening featuring a speech by Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and a video address by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
During a ceremony in Dubrovnik, the country's prime minister also praised the completion of the bridge, citing the benefits it will bring ahead of Croatia's joining of the Schengen free-travel zone.
"This bridge is not a luxury, it is our necessity," Plenkovic said. "This is a wonderful day for Croatia."
The link will bring an end to the untold hours spent by commuters, merchants, and tourists at the Bosnian border and is one of the country's most ambitious infrastructure projects since Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.
The opening of the bridge has been a long time coming and not without controversy.
