Page 50 - BNE_magazine_06_2020 Growers

50 I Southeast Europe bne June 2020
Illegal border crossings to EU via Western Balkans increase 60% in January-April
bne IntelliNews
Illegal border crossing to the European Union countries via the Western Balkans jumped by 60% year-on-year in the first four months of 2020, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, announced.
The Balkan migrant route was closed in 2016, but smuggling of migrants has never stopped entirely. The main route ran from Greece via North Macedonia and Serbia, and then expanded to Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia & Herzegovina even though the situation there was not critical.
In the first four months of 2020, 5,987 illegal immigrants entered EU states through the six Western Balkan countries.
However, in April there were fewer than 100 illegal border crossings recorded on this route, down by 94% from the previous month as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Frontex said on May 12.
This is the lowest number of illegal immigrants entering the EU in any month since 2009.
The total number of illegal border crossings into the EU during this period was 26,650, approximately the same as in January-April last year.
(COSCO) had already two terminals
at the Greek port of Piraeus four years earlier. In 2016, COSCO acquired 51% of Piraeus in a €280.5mn deal. The port was seen as a Chinese gateway to Central Europe via the Balkans, and over the last few years China has been investing in road and rail infrastructure across the Balkan peninsula, through projects such as the upgrade of the Belgrade-Budapest railway.
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Despite this, Beijing has now turned
its attention to ports in the northern Adriatic, a move that has already resulted in Italy becoming the first G7 nation to join the BRI, and discussions about the development of an Italian port – most likely Trieste – as part of the BRI.
Italy initially proposed the port of Genoa but China was more interested in Trieste due to its location on the axis from
the Baltic to the Adriatic seaports. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two countries was signed in March 2019 as a first step towards greater co-operation on investment, trade and infrastructure. The European Commission expressed concern about the MoU (even though some of its eastern members are already members of the BRI), but Italy saw it as a chance to boost its trade and investment links with China.
There were media reports at the time that Italian officials had claimed China made a “mistake” when choosing to work with Piraeus, and was looking for alternatives.
However, Frans-Paul van der Putten, senior research fellow at the Clingendael Institute, says Beijing appears keen to develop ports in both Greece and the northern Adriatic.
“Regardless of whether Chinese companies enter into a lasting commitment with one of the North Adriatic ports, China seems quite determined to keep developing Greek as well as Adriatic ports as gateways to Central Europe, as a long-term aim to strengthen China-EU trade in goods and to increase Chinese influence over the main trade routes,” he tells bne IntelliNews.
Confirming this, in November 2019 China and Greece agreed to go ahead with COSCO's €600mn investment aimed at turning Piraeus into the biggest commercial harbour in Europe, and enhancing its role in trade between China and Europe.
At the same time, the Adriatic ports also anticipate a future increase in traffic, and several are in the midst of expansion plans.
Luka Koper has secured permission to increase the capacity of its container terminal to at least 1.5mn twenty-foot equivalent units (teu) annually, which is due to be completed in 2021. Work on a new roll-on roll-off berth for car- carriers is also underway.
An even larger project is the expansion of the Koper-Divaca railway that links