An Englishman in the Balkans is an audio journey into the heart of Bosnia and Herzegovina, seen through the eyes of an Englishman who has made this place his home.
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In this episode of An Englishman in the Balkans, I step away from the usual travel stories and personal reflections to look at something that says a great deal about Bosnia and Herzegovina today.
The damaged bridge at the Gradiška border crossing, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, is not just a story about traffic, customs, lorries, and delays. It is also a story about politics, frustration, missed opportunities, and the way ordinary people and businesses so often pay the price when practical problems become political arguments.
Gradiška is one of the most important crossings for those of us living in the Banja Luka region. It connects northern Bosnia with Croatia, the European Union, Zagreb, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, and beyond. When traffic was suspended after damage to the old bridge over the Sava River, long queues quickly followed, with freight and passenger traffic diverted to already busy crossings.
Reports described truck delays of up to 16 hours at Jasenovac/Donja Gradina.
But the bigger question is this: why was a new crossing, already built and ready, not fully solving the problem before the crisis happened?
This is a reflection on Gradiška, Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Croatia, bureaucracy, political point scoring, and the real economic cost of delay in a country that cannot afford to keep losing time.
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