Greece: new transport routes from Asia to Europe (video)

The 5th Balkan and Black Sea Forum took place in the port of Piraeus, where the development of transport routes from Asia to Europe was discussed.

Despite the efforts of European governments and the European Central Bank, writes Euronews, inflation in Europe continues. The cost of transporting containers from Asia to Europe is also rising. In addition to high energy prices, geopolitical crises play a major role: the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, tensions between the United States and China. Dimitrios Rallis, Deputy Secretary General of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, notes:

“All crises, each in its own way, affect global trade routes. Ultimately, it all comes down to increased costs: transport, security and communications.”

Transport corridors from Asia, mainly from China to Europe, and supply chains for products consumed by Europeans have been disrupted, leading to significant increases in final costs. Angelos Vlahos, director of the Greek port of Kavala, says:

“To give one example, the cost of transporting containers increased by as much as 100% in the last quarter.”

To provide a sufficient quantity of affordable goods to the European consumer, it is necessary to develop new transport routes, experts say at a forum in the port of Piraeus. Among them is the so-called “Middle Corridor” or Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, which runs through Central Asia and connects China with Europe. Renwei Huang, CEO of the Belt and Road and Global Governance Institute at Fudan University, says:

“People are thinking about alternative routes from Europe to East Asia. There are three possible alternatives. The Black Sea could become a central (that is, middle) corridor, which would be partly dependent on the port of Piraeus, with a route also going north to Hungary and Central Europe.”

China and the European Union have expressed a common interest in the development of the Middle Corridor – to solve geopolitical problems and improve the security of supply chains.

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