SARAJEVO, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented a 71-million-euro (71 million U.S. dollars) energy package during a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on Friday.
The funding is aimed at mitigating the impact of rising energy costs on the Bosnian economy.
It is a part of a larger, 500-million-euro energy package for the Western Balkan countries, said von der Leyen, adding that the European Union (EU) wants to help preserve energy security in Western Balkans.
"I am talking about solar, wind, and biomass power plants that can be built in less than a year, but also about new interconnections between BiH and its neighbors," von der Leyen told officials and media in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.
After meeting the members of the Presidency of BiH, Sefik Dzaferovic, Milorad Dodik, and Zeljko Komsic, von der Leyen underlined that the country's place is within the EU.
Von der Leyen later joined the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, Zoran Tegeltija, some 30 kilometers southwest of Sarajevo, to participate in the opening ceremony of Tunnel Ivan and a seven-kilometer-long highway section along the Corridor Vc.
The Pan-European Corridor Vc is a 702-kilometer-long route connecting Hungary and Northeastern Croatia in the north, and the Adriatic Sea in the south, via BiH.
More than 335 kilometers of Corridor Vc runs through BiH, and 220 kilometers have been completed or are currently being finalized. (1 euro = 1 U.S. dollar) ■