The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, is in Tirana today to attend the second ministerial meeting on Corridor VIII, an infrastructure corridor linking the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea through Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Albania, and connecting with the ports of Bari and Brindisi. The meeting follows the first ministerial session on the initiative, held in Brindisi in July 2023, as well as discussions between Ministers Tajani and Elisa Spiropali at the first Italy–Albania intergovernmental summit last November.
The objective is to relaunch Corridor VIII as a platform for political dialogue and cooperation, as well as a driver of regional economic development and of EU and NATO military mobility. Minister Tajani will reiterate the political priority the project represents for Europe and for Italy, which aims to strengthen the strategic role of the Adriatic and the urgent need to mobilise public-private funding for its implementation. He will also underline the positive impact of the corridor on the economic development of the Western Balkans and, in turn, on their path towards European integration.
The meeting will be attended by the Foreign Ministers of the countries involved in the project (Albania, Bulgaria and North Macedonia), as well as Romania, which has joined the initiative on military mobility along Corridor VIII.
At the conclusion of proceedings, a joint press conference is held.
