Vesic: Serbia, Hungary to propose high-speed rail line extension

BUDAPEST - Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesic said on Tuesday in Budapest Serbia and Hungary would invite Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, Greece and Turkey to join the construction of a regional high-speed rail line that would first connect Budapest and Belgrade and then also Nis and Presevo, in the south of central Serbia.

Vesic said this in a statement to reporters after a meeting with Hungarian counterpart Lazar Janos.

"We discussed an extension of a high-speed rail line to Nis and then also to the North Macedonian border, and we agreed to together sign an initiative and send an invitation to transport ministers of Turkey, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania and Greece to discuss extending the high-speed rail line to Albania, to Greece via North Macedonia and to Istanbul via Bulgaria to really give the high-speed rail line sense and connect our two countries with the Turkish and the Greek coasts for the purpose of passenger and cargo transport," Vesic said.

In a statement to Tanjug, he said the initiative mirrored the Open Balkan initiative and could hence be dubbed the "Open Balkan Plus of railway transport."

"To us, being connected with Skopje, as well as with Tirana, Thessaloniki and Istanbul, is very important. It is important to the Hungarians, too, because the rail line will be used for cargo transport, rather than just for passenger transport," he said.

Once the rail line to Presevo is finished, it is logical to extend it to the south, Vesic said.

"I believe that is also in the interest of the EU, which wants the European continent to be connected," he said.