PM: EU's active participation in infrastructure projects

PM: EU's active participation in infrastructure projects

BRUSSELS -- Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said that Tuesday's meeting in Brussels of the six prime ministers from the Western Balkans was "important."

They "considered ways in which the EU could take an active part in infrastructure projects" across five Western Balkan countries - Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Albania - and the territory of Kosovo.

"Serbia did not have any objection to proposals," Vucic said in a statement to Radio-Television of Serbia (RTS), adding that several railway projects were accepted, the highway running from Nis across Kursumlija and Pristina to Durres and Tirana.

It will be a major success for Serbia if it gets 10 percent of the promised EU funds for regional infrastructure projects, Vucic said.

For this year, a total of EUR 100 million has been envisaged from the EU and for the next three or four years - EUR 1 billion in total, he said.

That money is not enough, of course, taking into account that a kilometer of highway costs EUR 5 million on average, but even 10 percent of the promised backing will mean a lot to Serbia, Vucic said.

It was announced in Brussels on Tuesday that heads of six Western Balkans governments "reached full political and economic consensus on the construction of key transport corridors in the Western Balkans to be fully incorporated in the European Union transportation network."

They adopted a joint statement, saying that "improving connectivity within the region and with the EU was a key factor in achieving economic growth and opening new jobs," and "supported the road and railway connections that in time should merge fully with the existing EU transportation network,"...