Eighteen out of the twenty counties of Croatia are bordering neighboring countries. The country's V-shape, borne out of historical processes (most notably the Ottoman presence in today's Bosnia), makes it extremely easy to abandon by land - wherever you are, you can meet a border at a maximum distance of 50 kilometres. The most extensive frontier is with Bosnia: 931 km, of which at least half along river thalwegs. When "soon" Croatia joins Schengen -this "soon" being a mobile time target, given the refugee issue- control of entries from the partly Muslim country will be the primary headache of border guards.
For the time being, pressure is on the opposite side. Traffic jams before the Croatia-Slovenia border, along today's Schengen line, is the only constant content of traffic bulletins, at all seasons -and especially in summers. The millions of tourists flocking by road towards the east Adriatic coasts are allowing this year for even more consumed time and fuel at Bregana and other "hot spots". This is caused by stricter controls on European citizens' passports on entry or exit from the single European space.
The situation is made more complex by the variability of Croatia-Slovenia relationships. Contrary to what one would expect of the two countries that almost simultaneously abandoned the old federation, their relationship is not trouble-free. Croatia's entry into the EU came only after an agreement for arbitration on their territorial-water conflict: Slovenes are claiming a corridor that will give them direct access to the Adriatic's international waters, which is denied by the Croats evoking the principle of equidistance. The verdict of the arbitration is expected on June 29th but may not provide a sure, conclusive solution. This pending matter leads to prolonged mistrust, which is expressed in various ways as regards border traffic management. The two sides' disagreement over the cause and manner of managing delays resulted in an extraordinary meeting on the matter, involving Juncker and the two prime ministers at the end of last April. Despite the deal reached, recent reports tend to flare up tensions again, mentioning a possible abolition of common controls at the large border stations - a measure introduced in 2013 as a showcase of friendly cooperation, which is however judged by some to be non-effective.
Those of us living in Zagreb, however, have our own way of bypassing queues. Together with the massive facilities on motorway E-70, Bregana also has another checkpoint, a few hundred meters to the west. The namesake village was once connected to nearby Slovenska Vas. Even after independence, Bregana's Croats could go for a quick beer to the Kalin guesthouse, showing their documents to the guard and passing from an opening between the jardinieres delimiting entry to Slovenia. Although nowadays this picturesque passage has been fenced properly, passage by car from the village's main two-lane street has considerably less traffic, giving us the possibility of grabbing a coffee "abroad" in less than a half hour from home.
Maybe I shouldn't have used the inverted commas. Slovenia's peculiarity is soon perceived. Belgrade's and Zagreb's Sava is a different river along its upper course: the winding flow on Croatia's plain is replaced by a narrow, wooded valley. Castles with German names such as "Reichenburg" (spelt "Rajhenburg") dominate the area around Sevnica, birthplace of the US's first lady -where, together with the indifferent ice cream called “Melanija” one can also buy a special series of food and other consumable products, branded “First Lady”, at the beautiful castle of the town. Perhaps the most characteristic feature in this corner of Slovenia is the coexistence of Gothic-style churches with factory chimneys, even a nuclear power station. One is tempted to think it is no accident that this former federal state -having a GDP per capita close to Greece's or even above it, already from Yugoslav times- was the first of its kind to enter not just Schengen, but also the Eurozone, even the OECD.
The situation is made more complex by the variability of Croatia-Slovenia relationships. Contrary to what one would expect of the two countries that almost simultaneously abandoned the old federation, their relationship is not trouble-free. Croatia's entry into the EU came only after an agreement for arbitration on their territorial-water conflict: Slovenes are claiming a corridor that will give them direct access to the Adriatic's international waters, which is denied by the Croats evoking the principle of equidistance. The verdict of the arbitration is expected on June 29th but may not provide a sure, conclusive solution. This pending matter leads to prolonged mistrust, which is expressed in various ways as regards border traffic management. The two sides' disagreement over the cause and manner of managing delays resulted in an extraordinary meeting on the matter, involving Juncker and the two prime ministers at the end of last April. Despite the deal reached, recent reports tend to flare up tensions again, mentioning a possible abolition of common controls at the large border stations - a measure introduced in 2013 as a showcase of friendly cooperation, which is however judged by some to be non-effective.
Those of us living in Zagreb, however, have our own way of bypassing queues. Together with the massive facilities on motorway E-70, Bregana also has another checkpoint, a few hundred meters to the west. The namesake village was once connected to nearby Slovenska Vas. Even after independence, Bregana's Croats could go for a quick beer to the Kalin guesthouse, showing their documents to the guard and passing from an opening between the jardinieres delimiting entry to Slovenia. Although nowadays this picturesque passage has been fenced properly, passage by car from the village's main two-lane street has considerably less traffic, giving us the possibility of grabbing a coffee "abroad" in less than a half hour from home.
Maybe I shouldn't have used the inverted commas. Slovenia's peculiarity is soon perceived. Belgrade's and Zagreb's Sava is a different river along its upper course: the winding flow on Croatia's plain is replaced by a narrow, wooded valley. Castles with German names such as "Reichenburg" (spelt "Rajhenburg") dominate the area around Sevnica, birthplace of the US's first lady -where, together with the indifferent ice cream called “Melanija” one can also buy a special series of food and other consumable products, branded “First Lady”, at the beautiful castle of the town. Perhaps the most characteristic feature in this corner of Slovenia is the coexistence of Gothic-style churches with factory chimneys, even a nuclear power station. One is tempted to think it is no accident that this former federal state -having a GDP per capita close to Greece's or even above it, already from Yugoslav times- was the first of its kind to enter not just Schengen, but also the Eurozone, even the OECD.
Where exactly the Balkans end is a long discussion. It is sometimes said that Slovenia -due to its primarily economic peculiarities described earlier- does not belong to them, whereas Croatia only partly. Others may examine geographical factors (e.g. "The Balkans stop at the Sava river") or historical ones, such as "how far north the Ottoman raids extended" - according to one view, the limit was the Slovene small town of Kostanjevica.
However you may call our region, if you wish to talk borders -be it in the form of a thalweg or a jardiniere- you are at the right place.
However you may call our region, if you wish to talk borders -be it in the form of a thalweg or a jardiniere- you are at the right place.
