site.btaBulgaria–North Macedonia Rail Tunnel Due for Completion by 2028 - Transport Minister

The cross-border rail tunnel between Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia should be completed by 2028, Bulgaria's outgoing Deputy Prime Minister and Transport and Communications Minister Grozdan Karadjov told journalists on Thursday. He attended a sitting of the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee, which unanimously approved the ratification of an agreement between the two governments on the preparation, construction, and operation of a cross-border railway tunnel facility alongside Corridor VIII, signed at Gyueshevo Railway Station on November 6. Fourteen MPs voted in favour.

"This is a project closely monitored by the European Commission. Any country that from now on unjustifiably hinders this project will be seen as an unreliable partner. It is a test for us as an EU Member, but an even greater test for the Republic of North Macedonia as an EU candidate," Karadjov said. He stressed that the project is a joint venture: "This is not about digging a little from each side, but one complete project, overseen by a joint committee. We have a single tender, a single contractor, one tunnel."

The tunnel will be permanently managed by a joint committee. Both countries will always be required to contribute financially for its maintenance, which will be carried out jointly.

Karadjov expects the infrastructure up to the border, the final 2.4 km, to be completed by the end of 2026. "In 2027 we will have these 2.4 km ready, and when the tunnel itself is finished, only the final 400 m will need to be connected. That is our plan," the Transport Minister said.

The agreement on the preparation, construction and operation of the rail tunnel was signed by Grozdan Karadjov and North Macedonia's Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski at the border between the two countries.

After the signing ceremony, Valentina Superti, Director for the Western Balkans at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, said the agreement was important not only for Bulgaria and North Macedonia but also for the wider region, for the EU as a whole and for its Member States.