By signing the agreement on the construction of the Budapest-Belgrade rail line, we have reached the most important milestone of the cooperation between the EU and China, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán underlined after the signing ceremony held on Wednesday in Belgrade.
The agreement on the construction of the high-speed rail line was signed by the Prime Ministers of Hungary, Serbia, China and Macedonia.
Viktor Orbán pointed out that this new rail line will allow the exploitation of Hungary’s advantageous geographical position.
This agreement points beyond itself as thus “we succeeded in showing how China and the EU will be able to cooperate to the benefit of all parties”, the Hungarian Prime Minister explained.
According to Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, the rail line connecting the two capitals is beneficial to both countries, not only from a development point of view, but also in terms of the population’s quality of life.
As a result of the new agreement, the interests of China, and of the Eastern European countries will be better and faster served, which may give a push to the economies of the countries concerned. The European Union is the most important trade partner of China and with the help of the rail line construction the economic relations may be further extended, the Chinese Prime Minister emphasized.
Serbian Prime Minsister Aleksandar Vučić also underlined the improvement of the relations of the concerned countries and their people, adding that the current journey time of eight hours may be reduced to less than two and a half hours, thus making rail transportation faster than road transportation.
Prime Minister of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski emphasized that the project is not only important for the region, but also for Europe and China as well. It will change the movement of people and of goods and it will have a significant effect on the economy, the companies and on the people, too.
After signing the agreement, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó talked about the details of the project, throughout which a 334 km rail line will be reconstructed or modernized. In terms of the current agreement, the Serbian, Hungarian and Macedonian rail companies will jointly prepare an implementation schedule, while the feasibility study will be developed by China.
“According to the agreement, the Chinese party will provide the financial assistance necessary for the investment; foreseeably, we will receive a credit offer covering 85 per cent of the total investment value”, the Minister said. The first discussions on the USD 2.89 billion project were held one year ago at the Central Eastern Europe - China summit in Bucharest.
This agreement is of great importance, because from now on it will be Hungary and Serbia to provide the best transit route for the Chinese goods going to Western Europe, Szijjártó said, adding that following the implementation of the agreement, the volume of the goods going from China to Europe may also increase.
According to the plans the rail line allowing a maximum speed of 160 km/h will be inaugurated at the end of 2017.
The agreement was signed on Wednesday in the framework of the CEE-China summit, where the ministers of China, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Albania, and the deputy ministers of Poland and Croatia have participated. The Chinese Prime Minister also held bilateral negotiations with the delegations of the summit.
(Prime Minister's Office)
