Via Carpatia, a transnational highway running from the Baltic states in the north to Greece in the south, was added to the Trans-European Transport (TEN-T) Core Network, stated Polish Infrastructure Minister Andrzej Adamczyk following a meeting of EU transport ministers in Brussels.
“This was the crowning of the long-term efforts for the inclusion of the main communication routes, especially those in eastern Poland to the TEN-T Core Network – covering all major communication routes of the EU,” said Adamczyk.
He noted that just a few years ago, Via Carpatia was a completely unrecognizable name among transport ministers of the EU and today is “listed by everyone as one of the major communication routes.”
“Via Carpatia ultimately begins in Cyprus, runs through Greece, and we are ending it practically in Estonia and Finland,” added Adamczyk. He explained that the inclusion of Via Carpatia in TEN-T not only opens the path to EU funding but also ensures that this route will in fact be established. The Trans-European Transport Network is an instrument coordinating infrastructural investments in the EU.
“Via Carpatia interests us as the path connecting countries of the Three Seas. That was the goal and the idea of late President Lech Kaczyński, who in 2006 triggered the signing of an agreement on the realization of Via Carpatia,” said the minister.
Adamczyk continued by saying that when the Law and Justice (PiS) government stepped down in 2007, the idea of Via Carpatia was completely abandoned and forgotten by their successors, which meant that the project stopped. Only the United Right government returned to the project shortly before 2016.
This decision resulted in “a positive effect for not only all of Europe, but also for Ukraine,” noted Adamczyk.
