Erdogan to inaugurate Albania -Kosova highway

TIRANA, June 15 – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will inaugurate a highway which was constructed by a Turkish-American consortium and will connect Albania to Kosovo, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu agency said Monday.
Completion of a tunnel under a 60 km stretch of road linking the Albanian coastal resort of Durres to the border with Kosovo will slash hours off travelling time for Kosovo holidaymakers heading for the sea.
Erdogan will join Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha to inaugurate the highway on June 25.
The 61-kilometer highway is constructed by a consortium including U.S. company Bechtel and Turkish construction firm Enka. It will lower the 6-hour travel time to 2 hours from Albanian city of Durres to Kosovo’s border gate Morini.
Albania began considering building the road when the United Nations and NATO took control of Kosovo in 1999 after ousting the Serb forces, but it was Berisha who pushed the project forward.
In the past, Kosovo citizens have had to face a grueling eight-hour trip, often via the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, to reach Albania’s beaches.
Days earlier Berisha and Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci, inaugurated the opening of the Thirre 5.5 km-long tunnel that was an essential part of the road segment.