Territory, Energy, Politics: Serbia’s Long-Running Border Disputes

Threat of arbitration

Serbia's borders disputes. Illustration: Igor Vujicic/BIRN

In 2004, Serbia and Croatia formed a joint commission to address the dispute, which in turn formed an expert group to compare information from each side and which is due to meet again in mid-March.

The border between the two is 262 kilometres long; at issue is a 140 km stretch that follows the path of the Danube River. Serbia says the frontier runs down the middle of the river, while Croatia cites cadastral records from the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire before World War One, according to which Croatia claims some 9,600 hectares of land in Serbia.

Negotiations have been ongoing since 1998, three years after the end of the 1992-95 Croatian war. The joint commission has held 11 meetings, the last of which was in mid-2019 in Belgrade.

"The Interstate Diplomatic Commission has formed a Mixed Expert Group with the task of comparing valid cadastral and other relevant documents of the two sides on the border line between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Croatia on the Srem part," the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told BIRN in written reply.

Visiting Croatia in 2018, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the neighbours had another two years to strike a deal or they should go to international arbitration.

'There are claims…'

Hydropower plant Bajina Basta. Photo: eps.rs

Likewise with Bosnia, river borders are at issue.

Serbia and Bosnia are at odds over the exact location of the border at the site of the Zvornik hydropower plant, the Bajina Basta power plant, a part of a railway line and at the village of Medjurecje.

The two power plants straddle the border but...