TIRANA, July 27 – Italy, Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria held a summit with Corridor VIII as the central topic in Brindisi on Thursday. The summit, held in the “Federiciano” castle, was chaired by the Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani.
The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Olta Xhaçka, the Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani and the Bulgarian Foreign Minister, Maria Gabriel were also present.
The main objective of the summit is the revitalization of Corridor VIII, a multimodal infrastructure included in the strategic European transport network (TEN-T), which will connect the Adriatic Sea with the Black Sea.
After the plenary session on integration and cooperation in the 1+4 format, a joint press conference of the ministers was held.
“With Albania, Bulgaria and North Macedonia we want to promote more intensive cooperation and integration through Corridor VIII. This meeting will also serve to launch a platform for dialogue and political cooperation, which constitutes an example for regional cooperation in the Balkans by associating two EU member states and two candidate countries,” declared Tajani.
“The Western Balkans is a region of strategic importance for Italy in which the government has invested, becoming a leading player,” said Italian FM Tajani. /argumentum.al
