At the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels on Tuesday, Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) MEP Tomasz Poreba hosted a round table discussion on a new section of the “Via Carpatia” project, a key road corridor along the eastern border of the EU on the North-South axis connecting the Baltic Sea with Aegean, Black and Adriatic seas.
In the meeting, with the participation of several high-ranking officials, the importance of the corridor was discussed in detail.
Among attendees were Pablo Fabregas Martinez, deputy head of the Cabinet of the European Commissioner for Transport; Faruk Kaymakcı, Turkish permanent delegation to the EU; Vaqif Sadıqov, Azerbaijani ambassador to the EU; Bidzina Javakhishvili, deputy head of the mission of Georgia to the EU; Vardan Sargsyan, deputy head of the mission of Armenia and Ryszard Czarnecki, PiS member of the EP.
"In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the instability in the Middle East, we need to diversify the transport routes to have a much more resilient and stable transport network,” Martinez said in his speech at the gathering.
“Transport is connecting businesses, different parts of the regions and citizens, but also makes that interaction much more fluent. It is not only the backbone of our economies, without transport any business trade and will not happen,” he added.
Poreba said that the Via Carpatia, starting in Klaipeda and passing Kaunas, Bialystok, Lublin, Rzeszow, Kosice, Miskolc, Debrecen, Oradea, Lugoj to Calafat/Constanta, Svilengrad and Thessaloniki, is the shortest highway from the north to the south.
He recalled that the idea to build this international highway connection was launched first by Poland and afterward joined by six other EU member states, namely Lithuania, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece.
“Thanks to our common efforts, the Via Carpatia is today the most important transit route in Europe's eastern regions. It has been fully recognized by the EU's institutions and consequently, all sections of the road were included in the TEN-T network. It's the right moment to extend transport connection via Turkey and Georgia to Azerbaijan to include the Caspian Sea,” Poreba said.
Speaking on the new section of the Via Carpatia, Poreba added that it would open direct access from Türkiye and the Caucasian countries Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to the Baltic Sea. “This project will boost development in the region and significantly accelerate its economic growth,” he emphasized.
Ambassador Kaymakcı said that the possibility to easily reach Northern European countries will attract investment and create a favorable business and industrial environment for large companies, as well as for small and medium-sized enterprises.
“This would consequently result in job creation, reduce unemployment and improve living conditions of our citizens,” he said. “Türkiye is ready to strongly cooperate with the EU on that matter,” he added.
Ambassador Sadıqov emphasized, "In the context of energy security, this new international road corridor is of critical importance to the countries concerned.”
“Connecting Caspian Sea and South Caucasus with the EU should be a matter of strategic importance for both parties.”
Javakhishvili said that Tbilisi welcomes transport plans with hope and is ready to cooperate to implement them.
Sargsyan stressed that Armenia wants to play a key role as the communication hub for the countries of the region.
According to Tural Ganjaliyev, a member of the Azerbaijani Parliament, new road connections between the Caspian Sea and the EU will not only accelerate the economic development of the South Caucasus but may be an important element of political cooperation and normalization of the situation in the region.
“It is also a great opportunity for Europe to build strong relations with Azerbaijan and take advantage of its growing role and economic potential,” he said.
Czarnecki, who is also a regular Daily Sabah op-ed contributor, highlighted that, “We should underline the importance of the Via Carpatia running on the north-south axis between the Baltic, Aegean, Black and Adriatic Seas, thus embedding into the process of advancing economic and territorial cohesion of the EU, and contributing to the social and economic development of the Central and Southern Europe."
"Countries like Türkiye and Azerbaijan play an important role in turning these corridors from projects to reality," he stated.
“The EU must continue to invest and take a lead role in trans-regional trade corridor projects. This interconnectivity increases the competitiveness of European goods and products,” he reiterated.
Regarding the ongoing negotiations on further expanding the TEN-T network to new regions, Poreba concluded: "We cannot stop here. We have to use this opportunity to bring forward new future-proof road projects connecting the Baltic See through seven European countries with the Caspian Sea.”
“All countries are ready in terms of concept, infrastructure, plans and ideas. They are ready to improve connectivity. It's time to act.”
