By Enver Robelli
The story of the highway from Vërmica to Pristina might as well begin in Kalimash—because we are one. The speed limit in that tunnel is 70 kilometers per hour. Anyone who respects this speed is probably viewed as a fool by most drivers.
Two such drivers, both with Kosovo license plates, chose the Kalimash tunnel one early July day to stage a street race. As mentioned, the speed limit there is 70 km/h. Their actual speed? Likely over 170 km/h—maybe even more. Other witnesses have recorded buses barreling through the tunnel at up to 120 km/h. Videos are circulating all over social media.
There’s a certain breed of Kosovars—some of them from the diaspora—who, as soon as they enter Albania, adopt a swaggering arrogance. In 2021, near Vlorë, police stopped two Albanians, one residing in Switzerland and the other in Kosovo. With their “Lamborghini” and “BMW,” they were driving at a ridiculous speed of 225 km/h. They were fined around €1,500 each—a manageable sum for someone who owns a Lamborghini.
For the Kalimash racers, there were no consequences. Happy and proud of their bravado, they continued their journey after paying the infamous €5 toll for the “Nation’s Road” in Albania. No traffic police in sight. Yet stopping these drivers would have been child’s play. Kalimash Tunnel surely has surveillance cameras. In the age of digital revolution, data on such blatant speeding violations can reach border police in Albania and Kosovo within minutes.
The two reckless drivers could’ve been kindly stopped at Vërmica and arrested on the spot—with their cars confiscated. For this to happen, Kosovo should amend its laws. A car weighing 1.5 tons or more, misused to break speed limits and endanger others, is not a means of transport from point A to B. No, such a vehicle becomes a weapon—a dangerous one, wielded by a driver with criminal energy.
In Kosovo, drivers face another danger. The highway between Vërmica and the village of Arllat resembles a worn-out runway somewhere in an African or Latin American jungle. This highway cost a fortune—according to some estimates, around €820 million. Previous governments ensured that the project was shrouded in maximum non-transparency. The current government seems convinced that this highway, opened in 2013, magically maintains itself. By some invisible hand. Of course, that’s a fantasy. Every road must be maintained—especially a highway.
What’s astonishing is how the miserable condition of the road seems to have escaped the notice of Kosovo’s Prime Minister, the Minister of Infrastructure, and all the MPs—who travel it frequently. Or perhaps they’ve seen it and just didn’t care.
Driving this highway at night is downright terrifying. Road markings are virtually nonexistent. The solid and dashed white lines along most of the stretch have been erased by wear. The edge lines are also either faint or completely gone. There’s no lighting. You must keep your eyes wide open to avoid veering off the road. And without lane markings, it’s impossible to know whether you’re in your own lane or already in the overtaking lane. In short: driving this highway is a major challenge.
Every summer day, tens of thousands of vehicles pass through this stretch—Kosovar drivers, diaspora returning from the West, and drivers from Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia—all heading for holidays in Albania. And after a few days of rest, they return through Kosovo—where they may well be risking their lives.
Kosovo is the only country in the Balkans where drivers can use highways for free. A year ago, the Ministry of Infrastructure announced it was “working on” ending this free-for-all. It appears they’re still “working.”
This situation cannot continue. Perhaps in the past four years the government lacked the courage to even bring up the issue of tolls. But the debate must be opened, because toll revenues can fund highway maintenance. The toll doesn’t need to be abusive, as in some regional countries—but clearly, free highway travel must end. A moderate, annual toll—say, €10 or €15—could be introduced, modeled after Switzerland, where a yearly highway vignette costs around €40.
But before diving into the toll debate, what’s truly urgent is this:
The Government of Kosovo must at least buy a few bags of lime—so the “Ibrahim Rugova” highway can have road markings again.