MINISTER TUSEK: UNIMPEDED PASSAGE THROUGH NEUM AS OF MONDAY

SPLIT, June 9 (Hina) - As of 11 June, the transit of passengers and goods through Bosnia's territory of Neum will be unimpeded, Croatia's Transport Minister Alojz Tusek announced at a news conference in Split on Saturday. This implies that passengers travelling between Split and Dubrovnik will freely pass through Bosnia's coastal stretch 'Neum- Klek' which intercepts the Croatian territory. This was a result of agreement of Bosnia-Herzegovina's Council of Ministers and the Croatian-Bosnian commission for the rationalisation of the space around the border crossings, which held a meeting in the north-eastern Bosnian city of Tuzla on Friday. Under the agreement, there will be a 'green' lane for cars in transit that have nothing to declare to customs officers and a 'red' lane where persons declare goods for customs duties. Trucks will use the border crossing of Doljani. Croatia's Road Transport Administration head, Mijo Bezer, announced that the two countries' authorities would take joint efforts to block about 210 'black holes' i.e. illegal border crossings used by smugglers. International peace keepers in Bosnia (NATO-led SFOR) will help them to close those illegal crossings in the coming two months, as both Zagreb and Sarajevo are resolute to clamp down on the 'grey market'. Minister Tusek said preparations for the successful tourist season and a great influx of tourists had been done or some jobs were near completion. (hina) ms