Podgorica, (MINA-BUSINESS) – The Adriatic-Ionian motorway must be seen as a single regional and European project rather than a series of national ones, Minister of Transport Rados Zecevic said, calling on the countries of the region and the EU to make a political decision on its completion.

“Infrastructure is no longer a matter for individual countries, but a matter of the region’s shared future. The roads we are building do not merely connect cities, but also markets, economies, ports, investments and, above all, people,” Zecevic said at the opening of the first regional Adria Next conference at Hotel Avala in Budva.

According to a press release from the Ministry of Transport, Zecevic said that the Adriatic-Ionian motorway is one of the most important infrastructure projects in Southeast Europe, connecting seven countries with a combined population of around 81.7 million and an annual gross domestic product (GDP) of approximately $3.1 trillion.

The motorway connects four EU member states and three candidate countries, creating an uninterrupted land connection from the northern Adriatic to the Ionian Sea.

Zecevic said that completing the remaining sections in Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania would provide the region with a modern and uninterrupted road connection along the coast, while giving neighbouring landlocked countries faster access to ports and the European market. According to him, the motorway would also provide the EU with better connectivity between the internal market and the Western Balkans.

“We must not view the Adriatic-Ionian Motorway as a series of national projects. It must be viewed as a single regional and European project,” Zecevic said.

He said Montenegro has prepared the project documentation for the motorway route through its territory, while international partners and companies have already expressed interest in the corridor. However, he noted that no country can complete the corridor on its own.

Zecevic called on Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania, together with the EU member states through which the motorway passes, to clearly demonstrate that they want the project to be a European priority.

He said that the goal is for the corridor to become part of the European transport network and for European and international funding for its development to be jointly secured.