TIRANA, June 2 – The prime ministers of Albania and Serbia, Edi Rama and Aleksandar Vucic, will sign an agreement in the next two weeks on a highway project linking the Albanian port of Durres to the southern Serbian city of Nis, according to several media reports.
The government of Kosovo, through which the highway crosses, appears to also be on board.
The project was mentioned last week during the Tirana Talks/Vienna Economic Forum that gathered premiers from six Western Balkan countries in the Albanian capital.
Serbian Minister of Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic told the media that the project of the highway Nis-Merdar-Prishtina-Tirana-Durres will cost around 1 billion euros to complete.
“Serbia and Albania have been working for six months on this and we are preparing projects that the two prime ministers will present in Vienna in August,” Mihajlovic said.
The project is seen as important because it enhances the entire region’s political stability, a prerequisites for economic stability, Mihajlovic said.
For landlocked Serbia the motorway will also provide access to Albania’s Adriatic ports, she added.
Vucic said last week, he will send a letter to the European Commission and EU member countries asking for funds for the project.
Most of the highway has already been built in Albania and Kosovo with taxpayer funds, but there are sections that could use improvements or be built from scratch in all three countries, particularly in Serbia.
