Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Idea of Morava-Vardar Water Canal and Its Long
The Idea of Morava-Vardar Water Canal and Its Long
The Idea of Morava-Vardar Water Canal and Its Long
Abstract Keywords
The aim of this paper is to analyze in chronological terms the idea for the construc- Serbia,
tion of Morava-Vardar canal and the contemporary geopolitical consequences of this canal Morava-Vardar,
geopolitics,
project along with its economic, environmental and social impacts. Through critical read-
sea,
ings of different contributions and reports made by scientific community, other institu- Yugoslavia
tions and media we have presented the idea in chronological terms from the late years
of the 19th century until recent years. Continental geographical position Serbs have, has
always been considered as an obstacle for their overall development. Through participa-
tion in unsustainable geopolitical formations they have continuously managed to develop
Received:
any kind of connections to the sea. Even though part of various political entities over
18 February 2018
the time the effort to reach the direct contact to the sea was not successful. For this rea-
Received in revised form:
son, Serbs raised idea and developed a project to connect their continental state with
4 September 2018
the sea through construction of the Morava-Vardar water canal. Except economic and en-
Accepted:
vironmental consequences, construction of this canal would have geopolitical implications
30 September 2018
in Balkan Peninsula known as very unstable geopolitical region.
played a very destructive role during the beginning as instruments of territorial integration for nation
of the 1990s of the 20th century are convincing ar- states (van Laak 2001).
guments that reinforce the abovementioned state- We have many examples of close ties of water in-
ment. Serbs’ attempt to connect to the sea has frastructure (water canals) and geopolitical pro-
a relatively long history. Serbia has sought to ful- cesses and developments. One of many examples
fill its connection with the sea through the develop- is Danube-Oder-Elbe canal, which became an ob-
ment of infrastructure projects such as, the railway ject of geopolitics around the turn of 20th cen-
Belgrade-Bar, which was completed in 1975. A giant tury as a crucial constituent of the Austrian impe-
infrastructure project with more than one hundred rial waterway network (Janáč et al. 2016). In his
years of history, which was not realized until now analysis of transnational aspects of the West Euro-
is the water canal “Morava-Vardar” that would con- pean waterway network construction Disco (2011)
nect Central with South Europe. Therefore, in this identified the crucial problem they faced relating
paper we are presenting the idea of construction to a particular feature of waterways and espe-
of Morava-Vardar canal in the context of realization cially trans-watershed canals: they initiated con-
of the abovementioned goals, and the contemporary flict between those who controlled acces to the sea
geopolitical consequences of this project along with and those who had the authority to extend the nav-
its economic, environmental and social impacts. igability of a certain river or a waterway system
further inland. While in the case of the Danube-
Oder-Elbe canal, there were used four differ-
2 Theoretical background ent integration frameworks to legitimize the need
for transnational integration at the time, each
of which was linked to a specific vision of Europe
The water canal “Morava-Vardar” is a giant infras- (i.e., Mittel-Europeanization, Nazification, Sovieti-
tructure project that was not realized until now. zation, and Europeanization; Janáč 2013), in the
Overoptimistic circles in Serbia compare it with case of Serbia ambitions for transnational integra-
ancient Silk Road which dates back before Christ tion have bigger aim then easing traffic and econ-
(Dimitrijević 2017). It would link the North Eu- omy, and have been inspired by hegemonic ideas
rope with the Mediterranean Sea, through the cen- of territorial expansion through conquest of other
ter of the Balkan Peninsula, being an important Balkan nations. One of the pioneers of this ex-
strategic project not only for Serbia, but for all pansionist idea was Jovan Cvijić, Serbian geogra-
the countries of the North, Western and Cen- pher and founder of the school of anthropogeog-
tral Europe and the Middle and Far East region raphy in the beginning of the 20th century. Cvijić
as well. There are little scientific contributions elaborates this idea in the paper titled: “The Exit
that treats Morava-Vardar projected canal, compar- of Serbia to the Adriatic Sea” (Cvijić 1912). The fol-
ing with Danube-Oder-Elbe or Danube-Rhine, for ex- lowers of Cvijić’s theory claim that Serbia pos-
ample. Most commonly, the canal’s histories have sesses favorable assumptions to acquire a central
been written by engineers, who focus on technical- place in South Eastern Europe (Radovanović 1983)
ities and boast the project’s positive effects. They through the possession of striking geographic focal
claim many times that the canal felt victim to igno- points. One of these marvelous areas is the lon-
rance, narrow-mindedness and politicians’ incom- gitudinal valley of Morava and Vardar that merges
petence. The situation is even worse regarding in Preshva Valley.
Morava-Vardar projected water canal with just a few Of course, the importance of the construction
contributions even in the period after first World of the Morava-Vardar canal, in addition to the geopo-
War when we have growing body of works dealing litical aspect, is explained by the importance
with or closely related to inland navigation (Cromp- of the development and diversification of traf-
ton 2004). fic, international trade, regional and continen-
Obertreis et al. (2016) noted that infrastructure tal integration processes. Since the construction
projects cannot be reduced to its material/physical of this canal would significantly lengthen the water-
components alone. Instead, they need to be seen way Rhine-Main-Danube, Germany and other coun-
as combinations of technical artifacts, regula- tries of Central Europe could be interested in the
tory frameworks, cultural norms, environmental construction of the waterway from the Danube
flows, funding mechanisms, governance forms, etc. to the Gulf of Thessaloniki. According to some
that get configured in particular ways in particular authors (e.g., Karanović 2002) all these interests
places at particular times. Some authors have ad- through economic instruments will be of mutual
dressed the ways in which infrastructure have been benefit. Further connection of the former Yu-
used to build a sustain political regimes, whether
goslavia with the rest of Europe and the world mar- in 1893 and for this purpose they established a De-
kets through Adriatic Sea and the Strait of Otranto partment for Research and Construction of Canals.
can serve as synonymous for the connection of Ser- In the same year Germans issued Danube-Vltava
bia with the world and the world market through canal project, while some years earlier Germans
the Corridor X and river the Danube-Morava-Vardar- have begun a Dortmund Ems canal project (Janáč
Thessaloniki Bay (Dujić 2009). 2013).
This idea was preceded by a growing interest in the
development of river traffic in the Morava River.
3 Methodology and study area The French were among the first to be interested
in the realization of this idea. For this purpose,
it was established a joint French-Serbian company
Through readings and critical analysis of scien- (French-Serbian Shipping Company), which in co-
tific contributions and reports from different in- operation with another French company called Prin-
stitutions and media we have understood and de- cipale Compagnie de Bateaux à Vapeur developed
scribed the chronology of the idea for canal con- activities for the organization of inland waterway
struction and we have analyzed geopolitical, eco- transport in the Morava River. The French sought
nomic and environmental consequences of such by Serbian King Milan Obrenović to him for traffic
a giant infrastructural project. While using car- to be allowed to use the Morava River for 30 years.
tographical methods the water route was divided But here is intervened Russia, which was also inter-
into sections which have different length and build- ested in its stronger presence in the Balkans. How-
ing obstacles. Morava and Vardar are two domicile ever, in 1860 the French have won the right to use
river systems in Balkan Peninsula. Morava is a ma- Morava River for traffic purposes. But the agree-
jor river system in Serbia, while the same is Vardar ment failed and the construction of the canal has
in Macedonia. They are divided in Presheva Valley, not started when it was discovered that the French
which is the lowest point of the watershed with just company did not provide sufficient security for in-
460 m above sea level. For this reason, it helps easy vestments and the same deal with a suspicious busi-
connection between the Morava Valley in the north nesses.
and the Vardar valley in the south. The Presheva The idea reappears in 1879 by Serbian engi-
Valley is located in the central part of the Balkan neer Ante Aleksić in the book entitled “Morava,
Peninsula – more precisely, between the Morava Val- the current situation and shipping opportunities”
ley in the north and the Vardar Valley in the south. (Corres 2014) and was developed more because
These two valleys constitute the most important nat- it was proposed for the possibility to connect
ural corridor connecting Europe with South East Danube River with the Aegean Sea (Jovanovski
Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (Ejupi 2011). The project was presented to the Ger-
& Ramadani 2016). Presheva Valley, with its low- mans, the British, and through them to the Amer-
lying watershed, is located between these two val- icans, who have expressed interest in its implemen-
leys and across its territory it was planned to build tation. In 1907, an American company from New
up a section of the canal, which would allow Ser- Jersey drafted the conceptual design for the water
bia to contact with the Aegean Sea. According in “Morava-Vardar”, called “The line of European
to data obtained from census of 2002, Albanians economic gravitation in relation to the Suez Canal”.
makes a majority of population with 72.98% (Ejupi The first project of the canal was made by Nikola
2016). Stamenković, a professor at the University of Bel-
grade. This project describes, in a professional
and creative way, the main route of canal which has
4 Results and discussions survived to this day. The project has been in the
Serbian language and it was made public in 1900.
and a design solution is published in English 1932.
4.1 Chronology of the project The new geopolitical developments in the Balkans
such as wars, destructions and the need for eco-
The idea to build a canal Morava-Vardar dates nomic recovery were an obstacle for the real-
from the late nineteenth and early twentieth cen- ization of this expensive project and temporarily
tury (). This is the period when growing initia- quench the hopes for political and financial support
tives regarding construction of canals may be ob- for this initiative. Hopes were renewed in 1961
served especially in Central Europe such as in Aus- when the Design Institute for River Traffic from Bel-
tria, Germany, Hungary, Czech Lands. Waterways grade prepared a preliminary design for the con-
re-appeared on the Austrian government’s agenda
struction of water road Danube-Thessaloniki, and in canals is 166 km while the total length in regulated
1973 the annex to this project was presented river flows of Morava and Vardar and Pčinja River
and a reported by UN experts (Dunčić & Lukić 2013) is 484 km.
on water canal Morava-Vardar.
Even after the disintegration of Yugoslavia, in po-
litical, economic and academic circles of conti-
nental Serbia, once again has appeared the idea
for the construction of water canal through
the Morava and Vardar to the Aegean Sea. Accord-
ing the data from previous projects, this waterway
will be complicated system of cascades and canals,
which needs to eliminate the height differences
of 491.6 m. It is planned to be built 65 cascades,
from Smederevo (Serbia) to the port of Thessaloniki
(Greece). Water route will be divided into five parts,
of which is the most difficult part is that of the wa-
tershed between Presheva and Kumanova. Accord-
ing to Serbian academic and political community
construction of water canal Morava-Vardar would
not be important just for the region of Southeast
Europe, but it would be important for the whole
continent, and therefore they believe that for its
construction will be interested also other countries Fig. 1 Presheva Valley in the project of Morava-Vardar
of Europe. water canal
In today’s geopolitical situation and economic rela-
tions in the Balkans construction of a water canal
is almost impossible. What can be done is to take 4.3 Reappearance of the idea in Serbia
over the planned construction of infrastructure sys-
tems, to reserve a space for its construction in the Passing more than a hundred years after the pre-
future. Construction of water canal in the Presheva sentation of the idea for the construction of water
Valley is also included within the Spatial Plan of Ser- canal “Danube-Morava-Vardar”, the idea again re-
bia (Matić 2012). Existing studies have not pro- vives from the Serbian Progressive Party Tomislav
posed a final solution, but only reserved the space Nikolić and Aleksandar Vučić, which won the elec-
for the water route. The plan aims to ensure mini- tion in 2014, and 2016 in Serbia. Reappearance
mal spatial conditions for sailing across the Morava of megalomaniac idea to build a canal is not a sur-
after year 2020. However, mainly the high cost prise knowing the political past of this political party
of this infrastructure project, today’s circumstances and their leaders. Nikolić and Vučić were second
and perspective of geopolitical developments, will or third in the political hierarchy of the Serbian Rad-
be an obstacle for the construction of the canal ical Party of Vojislav Šešelj, the party that through
for a long time. its political program, as well as concrete actions had
fascist attitude towards Albanians, Croats, and Mus-
4.2 Technical characteristics of Canal lims in the former Yugoslavia. Vojislav Šešelj, based
on many testimonies against him, a few years ago
From a total length of 650 km, 346 of projected navi- was sent to The Hague Tribunal, against whom was
gable route belong to Morava Valley section and 264 launched a trial for crimes against humanity, war
km belong to Vardar Valley section. The water- crimes, genocide and ethnic cleansing in Croatia
shed of the Presheva Valley point in this projected and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
route has a length of 30 km. As a very compli- In the power struggle, T. Nikolić and Aleksan-
cated engineering project it is accompanied by sev- dar Vučić were separated from Vojislav Šešelj
eral branches and lateral canals like that along West and recognizing the current political conjuncture
Morava River to the city of Kraljevo with a length in the region and Europe, at least declaratively
of 73 km; the canals along Nishava River to the city tried to break with their political past, declaring
of Nish with a length of 15 km and the canal branch pro-European idea and embraced Western demo-
along Vardar River to the city of Skopje with a length cratic values. However, this cosmetic transforma-
of 35 km (Dunčić 2013). Total length of lateral tion and allegedly pro-Western orientation was un-
masked in some of the key points of their pro-
gram during the last election campaign, which they bian land (Gavrilović & Dukić 2014), where approx-
won. One of them is the idea for construction imately three million people live, and its water po-
of water canal ”Morava-Vardar”. Although it is fo- tential at confluence is 45 % out of the total water
cused on the environmental and economic benefits resources in Serbia.
that Serbia will benefit from, the main objective In terms of transport the route from northern Eu-
is the factorization of Serbia as the Balkan power rope to the Aegean Sea will be shorter for 1.200
with hegemonic aspirations towards other countries kilometers. De (2006) finds that transaction costs
and nations. So, this idea should be viewed as a con- are a statistically significant and important de-
tinuation of the old hegemonic mentality of the vast terminant in explaining variation in trade, with
majority of the political, intellectual and academic the median landlocked country having transport
community. costs which are 55 percent higher than the me-
dian coastal economy. Grigoriou (2007) finds
4.4 Environmental and economic context that improvement in the infrastructure of the tran-
sit country would increase the international trade
According to those who proclaim this idea, by con- of the landlocked country by 52%. By construc-
struction of the water canal ”Morava-Vardar”, Ser- tion of this water canal would be raised the par-
bia will simultaneously solve two major environmen- ticipation of water transport, which until with just
tal problems: droughts and floods. There is 1.5 4.7% remains low and much behind the EU coun-
million hectares of cultivated land in the Morava tries, where the percentage of river transport in re-
Valley, of which land that are suitable for irriga- lation to the total traffic is more than 15%. These
tion occupies 0.2 million hectares while irrigated are some of the advantages of river transport com-
area occupies only 4 500 hectares, taking up only pared to other modes of transport that are used
0.3%. The water efficiency of irrigation in the as arguments for the construction of the canal from
Morava Valley is 0.5. For this reason the con- the group of experts and political representatives
struction of canals and dikes will help to protect in Serbia.
70 000 to 80 000 hectares of fertile land, while,
on the other hand, will provide the same volume 4.5 Geopolitical context
of irrigation during the dry season. Agricultural
production should be trippled and benefits would Arguing the need for a construction of a water canal
be in the field of energy production, since it will political and academic circles never stopped men-
work 5−7 hydropower plants with installed capacity tioning the possibilities of valorization of the geopo-
between 300 to 400 MGW electricity (Avakumović litical position of Serbia in the context of the Balkans
2013). Industrial waste water and sewage from and wider. Thus, in a statement to Serbian news-
households from settlements on both sides are dis- paper “Politika” of 27.01.2013, traditionally close
charged directly into the river with a few protec- to the Government, the Minister Bačević says:
tive treatments. The main pollution sources include “Through this project, Serbia will become an im-
urban sewage, industrial wastewater, and sewage portant factor in all the communication links in the
from dairy farms and stables. As per Serbia wa- relations between South Africa and the Middle
ter class management measures, the water qual- and Western part of the continent. With this wa-
ity of the Morava River falls into Class II. As per terway system, the whole country will be connected
the data base used by Serbia Hydrometeorologi- with the river system Rhine-Main-Danube, which
cal Research Institute from 2006 to 2009 the wa- is the most important in Europe, but also with water
ter quality of the Morava River falls into Class III/IV. canals of Rhone and Seine in France, as well as the
The sewage needs to be collected into the urban Vistula and the Oder in Poland and the Czech Re-
sewage treatment plant for centralized treatment, public”.
and the drainage water up to the standard after According to Bačević construction of the canal, will
treatment shall be drained into the non-drinking change the geopolitical position and international
water source function area, build systems for ur- status of Serbia (Avakumović 2013). In this con-
ban waste water treatment. According to data from text Bačević did not hesitate to repeat the story
the Central European Development Forum, by 2025 of hegemonic aspirations, noting that Serbia, after
two thirds of humanity will feel a serious lack of wa- canal construction could become a European su-
ter, so the multifunctional and integrated approach perpower. The political, intellectual and analytical
to water resources management is a duty of ev- circles in Serbia, which are close to the authori-
ery responsible society. Morava River basin cov- ties and vice versa, expressed their opinions ‘for’
ers an area of 6 126 square km or 42 % of Ser- and ‘against’ the idea to build a water canal. Ži-
vadin Jovičić, professor at the Faculty of Geogra- for such a project. During their meeting in Skopje
phy, University of Belgrade, for the Serbian news- Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and the
paper “Danas” justified the idea to build a canal, mayor of Thessaloniki Janis Butaris says that Mace-
as a continuation of the idea of Serbian geographer, donia and Greece are opened for project such
Jovan Cvijić (1865- 1927), who in the early twen- as canal Morava-Vardar, because it is very impor-
tieth century developed the idea to connect Ser- tant for both states and helps intensifying coopera-
bia with the port of Thessaloniki over the Morava tion in touristic, cultural and environmental protec-
and Vardar. He was one of the pioneers of the great- tion field. But so far, Macedonia’s government says
est exponents of the hegemonic aspirations of Ser- it has not received any official request for coopera-
bia to reach the sea and the idea to build a canal tion on the project from Serbia, although the Vardar
Morava-Vardar he has explained in an article titled: runs through Macedonia (Barlovac 2013).
“Izlazak Srbije na Jadransko More” (Cvijić 1912). Among other geopolitical circumstances that differ
Professor Jovičić in his article “The Danube- from those of the early twentieth century, the con-
Thessaloniki is not a fantasy”, which he wrote struction of the water canal is not economically fea-
for the newspaper “Danas” the arguments sible. Although the project is still in the preliminary
for the construction of the canal attempts to ex- stage and without detailed studies on the economic,
plain with the current geopolitical context in Europe social and environmental feasibility, economic an-
generally, and especially in the Balkans and aspi- alysts predict that the construction of the canal
rations of Serbia’s integration into the European cost of 15 to 20 billion dollars. Many observers
Union (Jovičić 2012). According to him, the real- of the economic environment in Serbia warned
ization of these ideas will be of great importance that the construction of the canal will pressure Ser-
for the integration process of the country, because bia with long-term economic consequences. Mi-
of the numerous problems and speculation, such ladin Kovačević, in the journal “Economic Analy-
as the global economic crisis, relations between sis”, warns that Serbia should not start this expan-
members of the developed and less developed coun- sive project, because it may experience a Greek
tries within the EU as well as issues related to ac- scenario. Another expert of economic environment
cession of countries, particularly for the beginning in Serbia, Further risk that could bring construc-
of negotiations for accession of Serbia in the Euro- tion of the canal is that the canal Morava-Vardar
pean Union. In this context, Professor Jovičić saw may have the same historical fate as of Belgrade-
the construction of the canal as a strong argument Bar railway, through which the former Yugoslavia
that would enable Serbia a faster path towards full and Serbia realize connection with the Adriatic
membership in the European Union. Within the in- Sea. When this railway was built it was thought
tellectual and political community in Serbia we can that through allegedly developed transport from
see also very pragmatic and realistic approaches re- Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic and half
garding the idea of building a canal Morava-Vardar. of Europe. The breakup of Yugoslavia led to the fact
Mahmud Bušatlija, investment consultant and well- that the Port of Bar is now empty, railway is not used,
known economic analyst, in his statement (“There but due to the difficult terrain through which
is nobody to sail canal”) for the Serbian newspaper it passes makes higher maintenance costs than eco-
“Politika” of 27. 01. 2013, noted that the idea nomic benefits. In the case of canal “Morava-
to build a canal is exceeded and in the current Vardar” the situation is similar or even worse
geopolitical and economic situation almost impossi- since there is no intergovernmental preliminary
ble project (). This was of course a grandiose idea agreement between Serbia, Macedonia and Greece
for the geopolitical circumstances of the late nine- in whose territories will be realized this waterway
teenth and early twentieth century, when it was system. In a time when the EU, Greece and Mace-
promoted for the first time. Austro-Hungarians donia are in crisis, it is difficult to imagine a tripar-
supported this idea in order to prevent the Turk- tite agreement or the one with the European Union
ish domination in the entrance to the Black Sea for joint financing of the project.
and the Russian domination of the Crimean Penin- The re-actualization of the Morava-Vardar canal
sula. Also, in technological terms, the waterway construction, during the time when Serbia is in the
would not have the capacity to carry out modern intensive phase of completing the chapters for EU
river and sea boats. accession, can be seen as Serbia’s attempt to fac-
Since the Morava-Vardar canal would be a trans- torize the central position in the Balkan Penin-
border project, besides the good will of a part of po- sula and accelerate the path towards full EU mem-
litical and academic circles in Serbia, there must bership and greater benefits within the dialogue
be an agreement between Macedonia and Greece with Kosovo. On the other hand, the engagement
Janáč J, Vleuten E (2016) Transnational system building across Obertries J, Moss T, Mollinga P, Bichsel Ch (2016) Water, Infras-
geopolitical shifts: The Danube-Oder-Elbe canal, 1901-1915. Wa- tructure and Political Rule: Introduction to the Special Issue, Wa-
ter Alternatives 9(2): 271−291. ter Alternatives 9(2): 168-181.
Jovanovski D (2011) Morava-Vardar (Axios) water route, Radovanović M (1983) Prostorne determinate i faktori demograf-
DANUBIUS, Journal of regional cooperation, http://danube- skog razvitka u Srbiji, Statističar, br. 10, Beograd.
cooperation.com/danubius/ (28.11.2011.) Šoškić S, Đekić Z, Kresojević M (2014) Analysis of River – Sea
Transport in the Direction of the Danube – Black Sea and the
Karanović E (2002) Some open questions and prospects for co-
Danube Rhine River River Main. International Journal on Marine
operation of the Danube-Basin countries. Medjunarodni Prob-
Water and Safety of Sea Transportation 8(4): 523−531.
lemi 54(3): 221−252.
Barlovac B (2013) Serbia’s Balkan Channel Ambitions Ques-
Matić D (2012) Srpska Žila Kucavica, NIN, http://www.nin.co.rs. tioned http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/serbia-govt-
(19.12.2002.) navigation-channel-project-criticized (24.01.2013)
Jovičić Ž (2012) Dijalog/kanal dunav solun nije fantazija. Van Laak D (2001) Infra-Strukturgeschichte. Geschichte und
http://www.danas.rs/danasrs, (25.10.2012.) Gesellschaft 27(3): 367−393.