Hungary, Serbia and China will sign the agreement on the modernisation of the Budapest-Belgrade railroad on Wednesday, thanks to which the transit route will be constructed, which allows the fastest transportation of Chinese goods form Greek harbours to Europe, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced at the Central Eastern Europe-China summit in Belgrade.

The railroad will be constructed with the financial and technical support of China.

Talking about the details of the project the Prime Minister said: “This railroad will form one section of the transit route starting from Greece, which will lead through Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary to Western Europe”.

He also announced that the Bank of China will establish its regional centre in Budapest.

Photo: MTI/AP/Marko Drobnjakovic

Concerning the changes going on in the world he said that as a result of the on-going global political, economic and security-related developments, Europe was not as successful in terms of competitiveness, as the other continents. However, he also added that in spite of this fact everyone agrees that the Central Eastern European region will be the growth engine of Europe.

“The fact that our economic growth was higher than the EU average bears significant responsibilities,” the Prime Minister said, adding that supporting further economic growth is a common European interest.

Photo: MTI/AP/Marko Drobnjakovic

According to Viktor Orbán, Europe must be able to establish strategic cooperational partnerships with the fastest developing regions of the world. This is why it is Europe’s vital interest to establish a close cooperation with China and for the region to play an active role in the Chinese-European cooperation, he said.