Tolling on Albania-Kosovo highway resumes amid high police presence

TIRANA, Sept. 17 – Drivers crossing the so-called Highway of Nation linking Albania to Kosovo paid tolls on Monday as tolling resumed peacefully but amid high police presence following a five-month suspension triggered by violent protests leading to revised fees for local residents and frequent users. Average €5 fees on the country’s first toll road were initially applied last March but suspended following a March 31 protest by local residents that turned violent after they burned down booths, opposing the tolls as too high for the country’s poorest region, northeast Albania. The reintroduction of tolls comes after the government renegotiated…