Bulgaria is completely ready and willing to sign an agreement with the Republic of North Macedonia and to start digging the cross-border railway tunnel as soon as possible. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications, Mr. Grozdan Karadjov said that at a working breakfast with Ambassadors of the EU and NATO member states in Bulgaria on the country's progress in the construction of Corridor 8. The Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Ivan Ivanov, the Minister of Defence Atanas Zapryanov, representatives of the European Commission, the National Railway Infrastructure Company and the Road Infrastructure Agency, attended the event.
The Deputy Prime Minister Karadjov provided detailed information about the railway projects on Bulgarian territory along Corridor 8 and pointed out that the cross-border tunnel facility between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia is not only a physical connection between two countries, but also an opportunity for seamless movement from the Adriatic to the Black Sea. “We expect Skopje to respond and comment on the proposed Agreement in order to plan an expert meeting to discuss it,” Grozdan Karadjov said. He expressed readiness, if the Republic of North Macedonia does not have any comments on the document, to organize its signing immediately. According to him, Bulgaria can start immediately the construction of the missing section of 2.4 km from Gyueshevo to the border, but first purely technologically shall be built the tunnel facility.
“The problems that our Government is facing on a daily basis require significant part of our attention and an urgent reaction. At the same time, however, we should not lose focus on strategic goals that can take our countries to another level. As it is the topic of Corridor 8,” Regional Minister Ivan Ivanov said and called for accelerating and concentrating efforts on the implementation of the project.
The Minister of Defence, Atanas Zapryanov pointed out that the development of basic infrastructure, including the railway connection with the Republic of North Macedonia, is of particular importance to Bulgaria and everything possible shall be done in order to make significant progress in a short time period. "The Military mobility is a priority task for us. Bulgaria supports the further development of Military Mobility not only as a "flagship" project for cooperation between the NATO and EU, but also to increase the role of regional security through a better connectivity of the European contingent,” added Zapryanov.
