"Our government has developed and unrolled a very ambitious programme to settle a number of outstanding issues from the past, as regards road infrastructure, and we are absolutely dedicated to this goal," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in Kalpaki, Ioannina on Wednesday. The prime minister was in the area to attend the signature of a contract for the construction of an extension of the Ionia Highway (Ionia Odos) from Ioannina to Kakavia, on the Greek-Albanian border.
He stressed that the government, step by step, was building a more connected and better Greece, while ensuring road safety. "I personally place great emphasis on issues of road safety," he said.
Regarding the new road, Mitsotakis noted that the government had succeeded in guiding this to maturity and through a tender process, and was now in the happy position to be signing the contract. He said that the Ioannina-Kakavia road will be crucial for the broader development of the region and in creating a link with Albania.
"Epirus, which was once isolated, is today perhaps the best-connected region, with the Egnatia highway, the Ionia highway and, of course, the very important project, the E65 that is approaching its completion. We expect that all of the E65 will be delivered for use within the first four months of 2026," the prime minister said.
"This means that you will be able to approach Ioannina from two different roads and certainly that, for Metsovo, it will be much faster to come from the E65," Mitsotakis added.