Bosnia’s Traffic and Communications Minister Ismir Jusko said that Zepce-Tuzla section will have the absolute priority in the construction of the Sarajevo-Belgrade highway.

“As a large industrial centre, Tuzla must be better connected with the rest of the country,” Jusko said. “I will suggest that this section be built first when we start the construction of this highway.”

Jusko added that he hopes his colleagues will support his proposal because, in his opinion, the benefits for the country outweigh all other costs.

Turkey expressed readiness to support the highway construction financially, leaving it to Bosnia and Serbia to decide on the routes that would connect their two respective capital cities.

After Bosnia’s two semi-autonomous entities, the Republika Srpska (RS) and the Federation (FBiH), failed to agree on one of two possible options, Turkey said it would finance the construction of both routes, via the northern city of Tuzla and Visegrad in the east of the country.