prijava
BELGRADE, October 9 (FENA) - BiH Presidency Chairman and members Željko Komšić, Šefik Džaferović and Milorad Dodik, Serbian and Turkish presidents Aleksandar Vučić and Recep Tayyip Erdogan laid the foundation stone on Tuesday for the construction of motorway that will connect Serbia and BiH.
Komšić said that this motorway is symbol of future relations between Serbia and BiH and friendly ties between peoples and countries at the ceremony which marked the beginning of construction of the Belgrade-Sarajevo motorway.
“This motorway represents communication at the same time, but it is also a symbol of our future better relations. This is symbol of friendly ties between our people and countries,” said Komšić hoping that the same ceremony will be held next year on the other side of the river.
Dodik said that the construction of the Belgrade-Sarajevo motorway is a historic event that represents repayment to the region and its people.
“Today is a historic day. Construction of a bridge on the motorway route that will connect Serbia to Bosnia and Herzegovina, RS, Banja Luka, Belgrade, Tuzla, Brčko is repayment to the people and this region, because throughout the history communications were not built to connect Serbia and RS and BiH,” Dodik said.
He estimated that building a motorway creates a number of benefits - to live and develop and communicate better.
"All this could not have been done without the commitment of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and his team who started talks with Turkey and BiH in order to build such important communication," Dodik said, adding that he is very pleased to express his gratitude to Vučić on behalf of RS and BiH.
Džaferović congratulated Serbia on completing all procedures for construction of the Belgrade-Sarajevo motorway and expressed his hope that BiH would do the same as soon as possible so that the two cities and the two countries connect.
Džaferović expressed his appreciation to the President of Turkey for helping this region.
“Turkey plays a very important, stabilizing role in the region, helping people to connect and to live normally as much as it is possible,” Džaferović said.
"If we had built roads earlier instead of hatred, we would have avoided disasters, but we no longer have the right to make such mistakes," Vučić said at the ceremony to mark the start of the construction of the motorway.
He said that this is an opportunity to show that by taking care of ourselves and our future, we can improve our relations.
The President of Turkey said that this day is a historic moment for Serbia, BiH and Turkey and that Turkey's only aim is to restore peace and prosperity in the Balkans.
“Therefore, we are obliged to create future by not seeing our differences as factors of conflicts, but as our wealth,” said Erdogan.
The beginning of the construction of the Belgrade-Sarajevo motorway was marked at the bridge over the Sava River in Sremska Rača, on the border with BiH (Bijeljina) and the village of Kuzmin.
The future motorway will be built in two directions - Bijeljina-Sremska Rača (border with BiH) -Kuzmin and Požega-Kotroman (border with BiH).
The first section that runs from Kuzmin to Sremska Rača is 18 kilometers long.
(FENA) A. B.
