Former Dubrovnik-Neretva County Prefect praised the Municipality of Konavle's response to the traffic chaos, but the media question his role in the long-standing failure to address the connectivity issues in Croatia's far south.
The traffic chaos that paralyzed Konavle over the past weekend and created massive queues at the Karasovići border crossing has once again brought the long-standing issue of transport infrastructure in Croatia's far south to the forefront. In response to this event, the former Dubrovnik-Neretva County Prefect and current President of the County Assembly, Nikola Dobroslavić, shifted the blame for the congestion beyond Croatia's borders.
On his Facebook profile, on August 4, 2026, Dobroslavić praised the Municipality of Konavle's reaction and called for expedited solutions. "All praise to the Konavle municipality for their response to the unpleasant situation with the clogged main road this weekend before Karasovići. We truly need to speed up the solution by building more lanes before Karasovići, even though such queues only occur during exceptional periods; traffic has already normalized today," he wrote.
In his post, the former prefect made it clear where he believes the fault lies for the prolonged border checks. "The people of Konavle are innocently suffering, as are the drivers, but drivers must be aware that a great responsibility lies with Montenegro and Albania to meet EU accession criteria as soon as possible, thereby contributing to faster border checks," Dobroslavić stated.
He emphasized that the fault does not lie at the national, Croatian level, and confirmed "the necessity and urgency of building a fast road to the airport (and even to the border crossing)."
Dobroslavić's statement did not go without critical media commentary. Dulist points out that it is hard to ignore the fact that Dobroslavić led the Dubrovnik-Neretva County for a full 16 years, precisely during the period when the fast road to the airport was mostly the subject of announcements, studies, and promises.
"During that time, the people of Konavle continued to live alongside a main road that turns into the bottleneck of Croatia's south every summer," reads Dulist's commentary, which concludes that after four county mandates, it is difficult to act as a casual observer of a problem that did not arise last weekend.
