KOMARNA, Croatia, July 26, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Croatia opens Tuesday 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 (1.5-mile) 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.

"The importance of the bridge is enormous, and it's not only emotional due to
the connection of Croatia's territory, but also for tourism and the economy
in general," said transportation minister Oleg Butkovic earlier this month.

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.

It was the bloody dissolution of the federation, however, that left a
patchwork of divisions across the Balkans, with the frontiers between its six
former republics transformed into international borders.

Bosnia maintained its coastal access in the end, but its small outlet leading
to the Adriatic Sea cut right through Croatia.

As a result, around 90,000 people, including residents in the country's
tourism hotspot of Dubrovnik, remained cut off from the rest of the country
until now.

The hard border brought lines and red tape for traders, and headaches for
tourists hoping to get south by road.

"It is indeed a historic project for Croatia," said Sabina Mikulic, owner of
a hotel, glamping site, and winery in Orebic -- the peninsula's largest town.

Inhabitants of the picturesque region of red vines, pebble beaches and oyster
farms are looking forward to the end of their geographic isolation caused by
the Bosnian border.

The hours-long waits at the border and fears over missing the day's last
ferry will now become a thing of the past, they say.

"It was really exhausting and made people living here bitter," Mikulic told
AFP.

- EU funded, Chinese made -

The opening of the bridge has been a long time coming and not without
controversy.

Croatia took its first stab at building the bridge in 2007 only for the
project to stall five years later due to budgetary constraints.

In 2017, the European Union -- which Croatia joined in 2013 -- allocated 357
million euros ($365 million), roughly 85 percent of the cost.

A Chinese firm was selected in 2018 to build the bridge -- marking the first
significant Chinese involvement in an infrastructure project in Croatia.

But not all were happy with the bridge's construction, with officials in
Bosnia claiming it would hamper its maritime access by preventing high-
tonnage vessels from entering its lone port.

Zagreb eventually agreed to increase the height of the bridge to 55 metres
(181 feet) in an attempt to quell the dispute, even though this increased the
cost of the structure.

The opening of the bridge comes as Croatia is angling for a tourism rebound
this year as it hopes to attract pre-pandemic levels of visitors.

The country of 3.8 million people attracts millions of tourists every year
hoping to soak up the sun along its stunning coast dappled with more than
1,000 islands and islets.

For retired piano teacher Smilja Matic, who has vacationed for years in the
Croatian village of Komarna near the entrance to the new bridge, the link to
the mainland is a win for locals and tourists alike.

"It means a new life for locals and for people who travel by plane to
Dubrovnik, like me. It's major progress," she told AFP.

Outside of tourism, the bridge will likely serve as a boon for businesses and
traders as well.

For decades, oyster farmer Mario Radibratovic was subjected to hours of extra
travel to bring his perishable shellfish north to market due to waiting times
at the border.

But with the opening of the bridge, the journey north will shrink
dramatically.

For the 57-year-old, the opening of the bridge will bring "immeasurable
relief".

"We are finally becoming part of Croatia," Radibratovic told AFP who farms
oysters and mussels in the village of Mali Ston.

"Until now we felt like second-class citizens."