| WB's Transport Community HQ in Belgrade, EU and Serbia agree The European Union and Serbia agreed on Monday that the Western Balkans Transport Community headquarters would be in Belgrade, the Beta news agency reported. The block and Belgrade clinched the deal during the EU Summit on Western Balkans taking part in London in the presence of Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic. Genoveva Ruiz Calvera, Director in charge of the Western Balkans at the DG Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), said that the EU would finance the Community HQ with 80 percent of the cost “to speed up the link between the EU and Western Balkans.” |
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| | Western Balkans Summit: London 2018 London (UK), July 10 - Prime Minister Theresa May hosted the Western Balkans Summit in London on 10 July, demonstrating our longstanding commitment to the region and to European security. Heads of Government of the Western Balkans 6, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, attended the Summit, and also representatives of Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Slovenia, as well as Bulgaria and Greece and the EU institutions. The Summit was the fifth to take place under the Berlin Process after Berlin (2014), Vienna (2015), Paris (2016) and Trieste (2017). The Berlin Process is a diplomatic initiative that Chancellor Merkel launched in 2014. Each year it brings together the 6 Western Balkans countries, like-minded EU partners and representatives of the EU institutions to work together to support security, stability and prosperity in the region. |
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| OPEC lends Bosnia some 48 mln euro for Corridor Vc works SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), August 30 - The OPEC Fund for International Development is lending Bosnia and Herzegovina close to 48 million euro ($56 million) for the construction of the Nemila - Donja Gracanica section of Corridor Vc, the chairman of Bosnia's state-level government said. |
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| Funds secured to expand Kriva Palanka-Deve Bair road section SKOPJE (Macedonia), August 30 – The government will cooperate with the public enterprise for state roads to implement a project on rehabilitation and expansion of a road section in northeast Macedonia, part of the Pan-European Corridor VIII. The loan contract will be concluded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the state roads public enterprise. EUR 10 million are provided through EBRD to finance this project. |
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| Serbia's government takes over management of Nis airport BELGRADE (Serbia), August 10 – Serbia's government has assumed management of Nis airport from the Nis city government, paving the way for new investments, the infrastructure ministry said. Infrastructure minister Zorana Mihajlovic signed an agreement on the transfer of founding rights on Nis airport with the mayor of Nis, the infrastructure ministry said in her statement. "Nis airport is of strategic importance for Serbia as an alternative airport to Belgrade and a reserve air traffic control centre thanks to the new flight control tower that we will build in Nis," Mihajlovic said. |
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| Montenegro, Kosovo sign road transport cooperation deal PODGORICA (Montenegro), August 2 - Montenegro's transport ministry said it signed a road transport cooperation deal with Kosovo, in order to facilitate the cross-border movement of freight and passengers. Montenegro is working to harmonise new agreements in the field of road transport with both countries from the region and wider Europe, Montenegrin transport minister Osman Nurkovic said, according to a press release issued by the ministry. The agreement will open the way for transport of cargo between Montenegro and Kosovo without permits, Nurkovic said. |
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| Western Balkans Summit begins with Economy Ministers Meeting in Vienna VIENNA (Austria), July 4 - In advance of the Western Balkans Summit in London, Economy Ministers from the Western Balkans countries met at the British Embassy in Vienna on 4 July 2018. The meeting of Economy Ministers, co-hosted by the British and the Austrian governments in Vienna, kicked off the 2018 Berlin Process Western Balkans Summit, to continue next week in London with Interior Ministers and Foreign Ministers meeting on 9 July and leaders meeting on 10 July. The Berlin Process encourages cooperation between the Western Balkans six – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" – and likeminded European nations; Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and the United Kingdom, with Bulgaria joining this year. |
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| Albania's govt approves $16 mln loan deal with OPEC for works on Tirana-Elbasan highway TIRANA (Albania), August 30 – The Albanian government said it approved a draft loan agreement worth $16 million (13.7 million) with the OPEC Fund for International Development to finance emergency repairs in the Tirana-Elbasan highway. The agreement is expected to get parliament's approval in September. |
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| Construction of bypass road in Albania’s Fier to start in autumn TIRANA (Albania), August 23 – The construction of a bypass road in the southwestern city of Fier will start in autumn, Albania’s prime minister Edi Rama said. The Albanian government has received a 48.8 million euro loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance the construction of the Fier bypass road. |
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| Wizz Air to add new routes from Kosovo's Pristina, Albania's Tirana PRISTINA (Kosovo), August 7 – Hungarian low-cost carrier Wizz Air said it will add new routes from Kosovo's Pristina to Mulhouse, Munich and Dortmund, as well as a service from Albania's Tirana to Dortmund. "This year we are introducing over 125 new connections supporting tourism industries and boosting business links between the countries,” acting head of corporate communications at Wizz Air, Sorina Ratz said in a statement. |
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| Air Serbia and Hainan Airlines ink codeshare BELGRADE (Serbia), July 10 - Air Serbia and Hainan Airlines have concluded a mutual codeshare agreement, with the two carriers to exchange codes on each others' flights. Air Serbia will add its designator code and flight numbers onto its counterpart's service between Beijing and Belgrade, while Hainan will follow suit by placing its codes onto Air Serbia's regional services from Belgrade. Air Serbia has seventeen codeshare partnerships in place. On flights to China, it currently codeshares on Air China's service between Beijing and Vienna. |
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| | Serbia signs 943 mln euro railway deal with China's CRI, CCCC BELGRADE (Serbia), July 9 - Serbia signed a 943 million euro ($1.11 billion) deal with China Railway International and China Communications Construction Company for the overhaul of the Novi Sad-Subotica section of the railway linking Belgrade with Hungary's capital Budapest, Serbia's infrastructure minister Zorana Mihajlovic said. The modernisation of the 108.1 kilometre-long section, which is expected to start in 2019, will help increase freight traffic along the Belgrade-Budapest railway line, Mihajlovic said in her statement. China Railway International (CRI) and China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) are also the main contractors of the project for the overhaul of the Belgrade-Stara Pazova section of the railway, which is part of pan-European transport Corridor X. |
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| Seventh 16+1 Summit takes place in Sofia SOFIA (Bulgaria), July 6 – Seventh annual Central Eastern Europe-China Summit, better known as “16 + 1” Summit, takes place in Bulgarion capital on 6 and 7 July. The 16+1 framework is an initiative by China aimed at expanding co-operation with 11 Centarl and Eastern European EU members (Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) and five pontential and current EU candidate caountries from Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia) in the fields of investments, transport, finance, science, education and culture. |
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