The EU Directorate-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement has published the comprehensive brochure of the projects approved during the Trieste Summit.
During the summit in July, in which Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia, and Kosovo participated, 7 projects were approved for the transport and energy sector, cofinanced by the EU, for a total of €194.1 million.
Different from what was claimed by the government’s propaganda, Albania is no included in any of the 7 projects.
Serbia is the main recipient of the €194.1 million in infrastructure funding, receiving €78 million for an interconnection line with Bulgaria and a railroad from Niš to the Bulgarian border. Second is Macedonia, which receives €70 million for a railroad. Bosnia will receive €46.1 million in total for different infrastructural projects.
About 45% of the financing is provided by the EU, while there is rest funded by private institutions such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
All project together will provide around 2,000 new jobs and will profit around 2 million people directly affected by them, improving travel times and trade relations between the Balkan countries.
The brochure also shows the current development of the projects that were approved the last two years. Both the interconnection line between Fier and the Macedonian border, and the railroad trajectory between Tirana and Durrës remain behind on schedule.
The EU publication clearly shows that in comparison with other Western Balkan countries, Albania is running behind both in terms of implementing and gaining funding for major infrastructural projects.
