An international symposium on Corridor 5C, a motorway that will run from Budapest via Osijek and Sarajevo to the Adriatic port of Ploče, started in the eastern city of Osijek on Friday under the aegis of the Croatian government and the Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The two-day meeting brought together over 40 specialists from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Serbia and Montenegro, and Croatia to discuss the position of the future motorway in the European road network and its economic and social aspects.
Hungary's Consul General to Osijek, Jozsef Magyar, said that his country had begun construction of the first section of the motorway and that it was expected to be operational next summer. He noted that Corridor 5C should not be viewed only as a technical facility, but also as a basis of regional cooperation.
According to Zvonimir Nagy, an adviser to the Ministry of the sea, tourism, transport and development, the European Union has designated this transport route as its priority in the next medium term after 2015, but Croatia nevertheless plans to complete most of the motorway on its territory in 2008.(Hina)