Brussels, 27/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 25 March, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn announced that the European Union was ready to give €1 billion to improve connectivity in terms of transport and energy between the Balkans and between the region of the Balkans and the EU.
“I am strongly committed to improving connectivity in this region and between the region and the European Union. We are ready to give €1 billion from the pre-accession instrument (IPA II) for this”, Hahn said at a meeting with the ministers for transport and foreign affairs from six Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia). He added that initially up to €130 million from the IPA II fund would be available as co-financing subsidies for the projects.
Hahn also announced that he - along with European Commissioner for Transport Violet Bulc - would host the prime ministers from the six Western Balkan countries in Brussels on 12 April in order to give political confirmation at the highest level of an agreement on the basic transport network. The Commission intends to organise a ministerial meeting of the Balkan countries at the end of June which will deal with the appointment of corridor coordinators. This will be part of the TEN-T days. In addition, the Vienna summit should enable a list of specific investment priorities to be presented on energy and on the regional transport network. (Camille-Cerise Gessant)