CORRIDOR EIGHT: DREAMS AND INTERESTS
AIM Tirana, April 17, 1998
For some time the Albanian press has been dedicating much space to Corridor 8, or better said the East-West Corridor. Nearly three years ago in New York, in the presence of President Clinton, Presidents of four Balkan countries - Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey signed an agreement on the initiation of works for the construction of what is known Corridor 8. On that occasion the United States offered 30 million dollars for this project. It seems that turbulent events in this region have for some time pushed this project into background, but as of the beginning of this year Corridor 8 was put back on the Balkan agenda. A month ago the EU Foreign Affairs Commissioner, Van den Broek, visited Durrese and inaugurated the beginning of works on the Albanian part of Corridor 8, thereby confirming that the European Union was still interested in this Project.
The map of the European continent is divided into several road and railway corridors which will facilitate communications between its various regions, and even with other continents. Although Albania is a small country, two main Balkan corridors will pass through it. The one connecting the North and South and the other between East-West. The North -South Corridor should link Yugoslavia with Greece, going over Albania, while the East-West Corridor, also called Corridor 8, starts in the Albanian port of Durrese, goes over Skopje, through the Bulgarian port Burgas and ends in Istanbul. There is another Project which is intended to link these countries with a gas-pipeline parallel to that going over Greece.
Notwithstanding the interests of the other four Balkan countries, as well as Italy, Albania has perhaps the greatest interest in Corridor 8. Today, Albania is a country with the shortest road and railway network per capita in the Balkans, and even shorter in Europe, and at the same time the poorest country in Europe. However, is Albania a transit country as regards political geography? In an article published in "A Geography of the New South-East Europe", a geo-political expert, Dean S.Rugga, concluded that by means of Corridor 8, for the first time in its history Albania might become an important transit country. Important communication links connecting various countries, even continents, could lead through and start in Albania. That would bring development to this poor Balkan country in all sectors, as well as general progress.
The importance of this Corridor for Albania would not only be in the increase of the loading capacity of the port of Durrese and its expansion, but also in the increase of the volume of investments in which Albania would only participate in the form of compensations to be paid out to land owners for their property used for the Project. Further, there are vast possibilities for job openings and development of enterprises along the Corridor. The exchange between zones which were not linked before would become easier. After the construction of the corridor, trucks could easily get from Durrese in ten, instead of 30 hours as it takes them now.
In periods of intensive activity the port of Durrese handled about two million tonns of goods (in 1989 and 1995 during the Greek embargo imposed on Macedonia), but has now fallen on hard times. The Corridor 8 Project, according to which Durrese would be both its port and starting point, handling capacities would process as much as six million tonns of goods per annum. Therefore, the Albanians have applied for assistance they need to modernize handling capacities and introduce new types of transport which would shorten the handling time. The World Bank will invest 20 million dollars in its expansion.
However, while the Albanians were most ardent supporters of the Corridor, until recently the Greeks have been its greatest opponents. Athens was afraid that the construction of this Corridor might reduce the importance of the port of Thessaloniki. Being a member of the European Union, which will be the main investor in the Project, Greece tried hard to postpone its realization. Unable to divert the Corridor so as to make it pass over its territory, Greece wanted to secure at least an extension which would be leading from the Albanian territory to Thessaloniki.
However, the Albanians are not the only party interested in the construction of this Corridor. For Turkey, Corridor 8 would mean an access to the Adriatic coast, i.e. a veritable expansion of the market for its goods. Because of constant disputes between Greece and Turkey, the former stood in Turkey's way to Europe. Corridor 8 would remove that obstacle. Turkish President Demirel thinks that Corridor 8 "is like a continuation of the Milk Way which starts in China, goes through Armenia and ends in Turkey".
Bulgaria has its interests too. Corridor 8 would shift its trade orientation from the former Soviet Union towards the West. Bulgaria which has applied for EU membership, sees it as a shortcut to the West European markets.
On the other hand, for Macedonia the Corridor would ensure a breathing space and salvation from risks burdening its relations with Greece and Serbia. Since it resulted from the former Yugoslavia, a major share of Macedonia's economy is closely linked to the Serbian economy. That is why the Macedonian economy strongly felt the consequences of the embargo imposed against Serbia. The situation in Kosovo increased this uncertainty even more, the more so because Serbia is again threatened with sanctions. This makes the revival of economic relations with Belgrade even less likely. On the other hand, delicate relations with Athens are burdened with other problems too. In such circumstances, the access to the Adriatic, the Black Sea and Aegeus is of vital importance for Macedonia.
Corridor 8 was also considered "Clinton's Plan", because of the American interest in this Project. But, what are the American economic interests in this? According to the Tirana magazine "Klan", the USA export at least two million dollars annually to Turkey and account for about 50 percent of foreign investments in South Italy. In this way, America has direct economic interests in the Corridor's starting and ending points. A strong influence of the American policy on the four East - West axis countries, should not be overlooked either.
Italy as a West European country is interested in this Corridor since it would link its less developed South with the Balkan countries, and the rest of the world. Statements of the current Prime Minister Prodi during his recent visits to Skopje and Sofia best speak of this interest on the part of the Italians. In his interview to the Albanian daily "Dita Informacion" Prodi said that he considered this Corridor to be of paramount importance for the development of this region "on which the countries have already reached a consensus". For South Italy, the Corridor would mean a way to new markets and an orientation towards still underdeveloped Balkan market.
According to a plan of action drafted at the last meeting of Ministers of Transport of the four countries, the construction will proceed in three stages. In the first stage from 1998 to 2003, the existing road network would be reconstructed. In the second stage from 2003 to 2010, this network would be expanded and new roads built. The third stage from 2010 to 2020, would be dedicated to the reconstruction of ports and building of railways in accordance with the highest world standards.
The Corridor is starting somewhere between the dreams and interests.
AIM Tirana
ARBEN KOLA