L’avanzamento dell’integrazione politico-economica europea ha costituito, e costituisce tutt’ora, il punto di riferimento per le capitali dell’est Europa. I trasporti hanno una particolare rilevanza in questo panorama ed il settore del trasporto aereo nell’Europa orientale e balcanica, non fa eccezione. Se questa situazione coinvolge diversi aeroporti diffusi in tutta Europa,emblematico è il caso dell’aeroporto di Forlì.

After the first steps in the economic orientation towards the West, in the 1990s under the European political and financial influence, east European countries developed their transport systems with a systematic policy of integration with the western part of the continent. In this context, an essential factor that has decisively contributed to the development of airline routes between Emilia Romagna (an Italian region) and eastern Europe is trade (coupled with migrations).

Il settore del trasporto aereo nei Balcani è cresciuto significativamente negli scorsi anni, compiendo un noteole salto di qualità. La regione ha sperimentato un sostenuto incremento nel numero di voli civili (trasporto di passeggeri e merci). La recente crescita del numero di passeggeri e rotte nei Balcani, è il risultato di una tendenza economica comune a tutta la regione.

The air transport sector in the Balkans has grown significantly in recent years in terms of business turnover, taking a major step forward. The region has experienced a quantitative increase in the number of civilian flights (i.e. flights transporting passengers and freight). The recent growth in numbers of passengers and airline connections in the region is the result of an economic trend common to all Balkan countries, that is, the orientation of domestic markets towards the EU’s founding members. Thus the dynamics described above have led to an increase in airport connections. Currently there are more than 100 flights per week between Albania and northeastern Italy, specifically between Tirana and Venice, Bologna, Rimini, Trieste, Treviso, Verona and Forlì.

In the decade 2000-2010 political forces in the Balkans (Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Romania and Bulgaria), inspite of many obstacles, proceeded to take on the challenge of leaving behind the events of the recent past. The positive influence of the European Union on the entire Balkan area has enabled economic growth to be anchored to European growth. One important example of this is the airport system in the Balkans, which has undergone marked progress in terms of development and modernization.

Rising oil prices, haigh pollution levels nd the global warming, have pushed East European intitutions to focus on replacing, as much as possible, coal and oil with natural gas. Moreover the dependence on foreign supplies and the monetary burden that it generates are persuading the authorities of the area to pursue alternative ways to gather the gas they need. One of the pioneering techniques to extract gas from the underground that is gaining ground in Eastern Europe is called “fracking”. It has has some strong consequences to the environment; will the benefits that it brings be higher than the costs?

The expectation of the increase of European energy demand, combined with the decrease of the energy sources within the European Union (EU), stresses a growing dependence on energy importation from outside the continent. In order to reduce this dependence on Russian pipelines, a series of projects have been planned. Among these projects is the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP); a planned pipeline that directly concern Italy.

The Danube River is the second longest river in Europe, flowing from southern Germany to the Romanian coast of the Black Sea. In addition to its role in Europe’s history, it is also an important commercial shipping route as well as a great natural ecosystem, fundamental for the ecological balance of the European continent. For the EU the issue is how to appropriately develop the river’s strengths in light of steadily increasing traffic on this waterway. Will it be possible without spoiling its ecological richness and the life of people who rely on it?