CSIS-EKEM Policy Report Number One

Re-linking the Western Balkans: The Transportation Dimension

The Western Balkan countries face significant challenges in building an effective transportation infrastructure. They need to restore and expand the transport links that tied them together before the devastation of the Yugoslav wars. Albania, on the other hand, needs to develop routes with its neighbors, in the aftermath of the communist regime’s isolationist policies. At the same time, the entire region needs to focus on the modernization of transport networks. The Cold War years, coupled with the process of Yugoslavia’s dissolution, bequeathed an antiquated transport network that requires a lot of work to reach EU standards. The envisaged transport network will need to incorporate a variety of safety, sustainability, and environmental requirements and integrate itself with the wider EU transportation routes. Thus, the development of an integrated transport network is a project that requires careful planning, ample financing, and continuous monitoring in order to be brought to fruition.

U.S.-Greece Task Force Members from Athens and Washington