Transport at Balkan Summit 2026: moving the corridor into Europe
Corridors 8 and 10, the Durrës–Prishtina railway and the financiers behind them: the transport sessions of day one.
Transport opened the sector programme on Monday 19 October. Plenary Session 1, “Moving the Corridor: Roads, Rail, Tunnels & Bridges into Europe”, was moderated by Richard Record of the World Bank.
On the panel were Zef Morina, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport of Kosovo; Kaltrina Zekolli Shaqiri, Deputy Minister of Transport of North Macedonia; and Bardh Kukaj, Head of Transport at the EBRD in Kosovo.
“Our main priority is the corridor infrastructure linking Kosovo with European and Western Balkan countries,” Deputy Minister Morina said. He named the Durrës–Prishtina railway as a special priority, at an estimated €1.8 billion, with the feasibility study complete and construction expected in the medium to long term.
Deputy Minister Zekolli Shaqiri focused on the links between the two corridors that cross North Macedonia. “The interconnection of corridors eight and ten is extremely important,” she said. About 40 km of Corridor 8 is open, the full motorway is targeted for 2027, and €130 million of works have started at Kičevo.
For the EBRD, Bardh Kukaj set out three priority projects, including a motorway of about €400 million approved under the Western Balkans Investment Framework, and a regional link running from the South Caucasus through North Macedonia to Kosovo and Serbia.
In the Strauss Hall, Thematic Panel 2 took the rail question further: “The Adriatic–Aegean Rail Spine: Financing Prishtina–Durrës as a TEN-T Extension”. It brought together Roberto Accinelli, Project Manager at GCF Generale Costruzioni Ferroviarie; Arianit Blakaj, Associate Director at the EBRD in Kosovo; and Murat Öcal, Chairman's Office and Business Development Director at Yapı Merkezi. Arian Zeka, Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo, moderated.
Speaking to the press on the day, Zeka named the gap the summit is meant to close: “There is little information among foreign investors about the country and the entire Western Balkan region.”
Transport matchmaking followed at 13:30 in the Meeting & Networking Hall.
Balkan Summit 2026 took place in Prishtina from 18 to 21 October 2026, at the Emerald Hotel.