New highway to shorten travel time from Skopje to Pristina

SKOPJE, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The construction of Skopje-Blace highway and its connections to Pristina-Blace will shorten in less than an hour the travel time from Skopje to Pristina, Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Bujar Osmani said on Wednesday.

"The construction of Skopje-Blace highway and its connections to Pristina-Blace, whose construction is in progress will slash the time travel between Skopje and Pristina from over two hours in less than an hour," said Osmani during the first meeting with other Macedonian ministers present related to the project.

The meeting focused on reviewing possibility and identifying initial steps for timely preparation and realization of the project for construction of Skopje-Blace highway.

According to Osmani, the project is important for the regional connection of Macedonia, which represents also one of the main pillars in European Integration process of Western Balkans.

Moreover, he added that the construction of this highway to Pristina is exceptionally important for the economic, social and cultural connection of Macedonia with the region.

The funds for the road project are provided by the Pre-accession instrument "Investment Framework for Western Balkans", which approved and secured 1.3 million euros (around 1.59 million U.S. dollars). Enditem