The Ministry of Transport and Communications proposes for the two parties to start work on the signing of an intergovernmental agreement, which shall settle the issues on the preparation, construction and operation of the cross-border railway connection, part of Corridor VIII.
We are witnessing with regret the continuing instrumentalization of the negotiations for the construction of the railway connection for speculative political statements by the government of the Republic of North Macedonia. The Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Bulgaria must note once again that this provocative approach will not lead to an effective solution on this important issue. Therefore, we propose signing a clear and functional agreement, which to settle the technical, financial, legal and organizational issues related to the preparation, construction and operation of the cross-border tunnel facility between the two countries in accordance with the European Acquis.
The Bulgarian authorities hope that such an agreement will put an end to an already imposed trend from the side of the Republic of North Macedonia to seek constant re-negotiation, re-evaluation and modification of the already reached commitments. Our objective is for the efforts to be directed into concrete and clear steps for bringing the project implementation forward. We would like to note that after the technical meeting held on 31 October 2024 in Sofia, it took the Republic of North Macedonia more than a month to finalize the read-out of the results on the discussion, however in the meantime the insinuations and provocations against the Bulgarian authorities have not stopped. We have repeatedly stated that the cost and the issues on the construction of the railway line from Kriva Palanka to the border with the Republic of Bulgaria are a sole responsibility of the Republic of North Macedonia and cannot be a subject to bilateral negotiations, as Republic of Bulgaria has clearly indicated the deadlines and commitments for the construction of Corridor VIII on its territory.
The negotiations on the construction of the railway connection have become a cover-up for political propaganda and the externalization of internal political issues of our neighbors that have nothing to do with the declared mutual interest for the project implementation. Moreover, the use of a football terminology in this context is offensive towards the constructive and friendly tone, which the Bulgarian representatives have always desired and maintained, and is not a typical approach as a form of communication between two neighboring countries.
In light of the above, we propose to sign an agreement in which the parties agree to adopt as a common objective the construction of a cross-border tunnel between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia in the border area of the railway line, including conducting the public procurement for the construction and the supervision of the works on the tunnel by one of the contracting parties and making efforts for secure funding for the tunnel construction as the constructed facility shall meet the EU and NATO requirements for this type of infrastructure. It is envisaged in a short-term after the signing of the agreement to be prepared a preliminary schedule for preparation and construction of the tunnel, which to be presented to the European Commission and the participating international financial institutions. The establishment of a Joint Committee shall be foreseen in the agreement, which is to coordinate all the activities and to solve the issues related to the construction, operation and maintenance of the site, based on the respective decisions of both parties.
Our proposal aims to create clear and unambiguous commitments for a way forward with defined deadlines in order to restore the pragmatic and responsible approach and guarantee a real progress on the project.