China and Montenegro's Highway Deal | North Macedonia Reaches a Compromise with Bulgaria

After three years of delays, the first section of the Bar-Boljare Highway, Montenegro's one billion dollar highway, has now opened. The previous Montenegrin government signed a contract with the China Road and Bridge Corporation in 2014 to build the highway and initially borrowed nearly one billion US dollars from Beijing. Despite failing several feasibility studies, the project was signed by then-prime minister Milo Djukanovic's government to boost the economy. But many say it has instead deepened the national debt. Mirjana Miladinovic has more from Podgorica.

Also, Albania and North Macedonia have opened negotiations with the EU. North Macedonia's parliament approved a French proposal that aims to unblock its bid to join the union. Bulgaria has been blocking North Macedonia's efforts to join the EU, but it earlier accepted the proposal that may allow it to lift its veto. The deal would unblock negotiations for neighbouring Albania. And, thousands of people took to the streets in Skopje demanding the rejection of the French proposal, saying it concedes too much to Bulgaria. The country's main opposition centre-right party has also rejected it, saying it favours Bulgarian demands that dispute North Macedonian history, language, identity and culture.

Across The Balkans, hosted by Nafisa Latic, is TRT World’s programme that focuses specifically on the issues and fault lines shaping Southeast Europe today.

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