New motorway in Albania will change the Balkans

On Thursday the last section of the 170 kilometre long motorway connecting Kosovo with the Albanian city of Durrë on the Adriatic coast was inaugurated. Giorgos Delastik writes in the left-leaning daily To Ethnos about the significance this motorway, also known as the "greater Albanian highway" will have for the Balkan region: "This motorway 'ends the division of the Albanian nation' said Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha during the inauguration ceremony, because it ... will connect Albania with Kosovo and the Albanian minority area in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). As soon as all sections of the motorway are finished, Tirana plans to upgrade the port in Durrës so it can compete with Thessaloniki. In future the port should ensure maritime connections for Kosovo, the FYROM and Serbia. In this connection the Albanian government is looking for buyers to privatise the city's harbour. There's no doubt, the map of the Balkans will change on many levels with this development."

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