Today, the Ambassador of the European Union to Serbia Emanuele Giaufret and the President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić inaugurated the first part of the Niš-Merdare highway.
Also known as the “Peace Highway“, this road will better connect people, towns and businesses, leading to economic progress in Southern Serbia and faster trade with the region and the EU. When the highway is completed, the travel time between Niš and Merdare by car will be halved and the road safety significantly increased. The Niš-Merdare Highway E-80 is part of the road axis that links Bulgaria with the Adriatic Sea towards Albania and thus has also a wider regional dimension.
“The road is primarily a transport route, but also a connection of people in the region. We want the roads to be a symbol of peace and stability in the region. This road will connect the South of Serbia with the Western Balkan network and enable the free flow of people, goods and capital, from Niš, via Pristina to Tirana and Durrës,” Ambassador Giaufret said.
As he pointed out, the road should be “a road of peace, stability and reconciliation, and that’s why it got the name the Peace Highway”.
“The 5.5-kilometer section that we opened today is the first segment of a much larger project that will connect Niš and other cities in this part of Serbia with the Adriatic Sea through Durrës,” he pointed out.
President Vučić pointed out that good connectivity is a very important element in the arrival of foreign investors to the country, and he also pointed out the improvement of the Toplica region as one of the important goals.
“I want to thank our partners from the European Union for their great support and help. They gave us 40 million euros as a gift for this road, it’s called a grant, that’s how much we got from the taxpayers of the European Union. Thank you for that, it’s a lot of money for our country,” Vučić pointed out and especially thanked the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which were good financiers on very favourable terms.
“This will be one of the busiest highways in just 20, 30 years. When you look at things, when you evaluate them, don’t look at them today, but in 20, 25 years,” noted President Vučić.
The value of the entire project is expected to be around 650 million EUR. The cost of the 33 kilometres long Niš –Pločnik section estimated at 255 million EUR is financed with a grant from the European Union (EU) worth over 40 million EUR.
The contract for this first part of the highway was signed in September 2021 during the visit of European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen.
Over 180 million EUR are secured through favourable loans from the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, while the rest will be coming from the Serbian government’s budget. The Pločnik- Merdare section will be constructed in the second phase in the length of 40.6 kilometres.
The “Peace Highway” is one of the flagships projects within the EU’s Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans. The plan sets out among other priorities the support for major road and railway projects in order to support the better connection between the economies within the region and with the EU. Other major transport projects under the plan are the new railway sections from Belgrade to Niš. The plan is expected to mobilise over 30 billion euros until 2027.
The EU has also co-financed a Serbian part of the Corridor X highway towards North Macedonia – currently widely being used by people from Serbia to reach Greece.