"Serbia has completed the reconstruction on 77.6 kilometers of the railroad in Bar, from Resnik to Valjevo, after 30 years of neglection. In the forthcoming period, we are going to prepare project documentation and talk about ways of financing the remaining 210 kilometers from Valjevo to the border with Montenegro. With the reconstruction of the railway line, we will get a quality railway connection with Port Bar, which will provide Serbia an easier access to the sea, and on the other hand, it will have a positive impact on the Port Bar, which also needs a qualitative infrastructure that connects it to the hinterland. Our obligation is to eliminate not only physical obstacles, by building new roads and tracks, but also the non- physical barriers. The stoppage of the trains in Bijelo Polje from eight to 10 hours on average does not contribute to the competitiveness neither to Serbia nor to Montenegro," Mihajlovic said.
The Serbian minister pointed out that the Bar-Boljare highway has more significance because it will make it possible to have better connections within the region, as one branch of the highway will be a separate route from Požega to Sarajevo.
"Independently from this, it is strategically important for Serbia as well, because it is the first highway connecting Serbia from within, passing through Sumadija, connecting Belgrade with Western Serbia. I believe that Corridor 11, in the interior sense, is equally important for Montenegro because of the effects on traffic safety and a better connection between the North and the South. Strategically, it is even more important that Corridor 11 opens Montenegro towards the entire region, connecting it with Central Europe and the countries through which Corridor 10 passes," she said.
During the interview, Mihajlovic spoke of the relationship between Serbia and Montenegro, and stressed that there is room for improvement of cooperation, especially in the field of infrastructure and traffic, but also in regard to the status of the Serbs living in Montenegro.
"Serbia will never interfere with internal affairs in Montenegro, but we will always be interested in Serbian people living beyond Serbia, and only in Montenegro it is estimated that Serbs make up about 27% of the population. Although there are disagreements on certain issues - the recent one was the decision of the Montenegrin parliament to send two officers to the KFOR mission in Kosovo - this must not prevent us from cooperating closely on all issues that are important for the future," the Serbian Minister pointed out.
Text by Dnevne novine, on July 24th, 2018, read more at CdM
