site.btaNorth Macedonia's Transport Minister: It Is Obvious Bulgaria Does Not Wish to Build Its Section of Sofia-Skopje Railway Line

North Macedonia's Transport Minister Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski said in a televised interview that more than 15 letters have been sent to Bulgaria, to which no response has been received from the Bulgarian side regarding the joint construction of the Sofia-Skopje railway line, MIA reported Tuesday. On MRT 1 TV, he said: "The fact that they are avoiding meeting us speaks volumes about the fate of the project. The deeds are on our side, the words are on theirs."

Nikoloski confirmed that the Government of North Macedonia had received a draft joint construction contract from the Bulgarian side, stressing that it was immediately reviewed at a government meeting and a working body consisting of the ministers of transport and finance and the director of the national railways was formed. The draft contract needs to be discussed, he added.

Asked if there was anything controversial in this contract, Nikoloski replied that there was and therefore "we need to sit down with the Bulgarian side and talk".

"But given that we don't sit down because they don't want us to sit down, then we can't get the job done. Let me repeat, if the Bulgarian side wants to build a railway, there will be a railway and it will be built. What are deeds, what are words? Such provocative statements from the Bulgarian side are words, and actions are that the Sofia - Pernik line will not be reconstructed because the money will be invested in the Sofia-Burgas line instead, and North Macedonia is currently the only country that is building a railway line along Corridor 8", Nikoloski pointed out. 

He also said that the position of the Government of North Macedonia is that it does not want to invest in a railway line that ends in a tunnel. The problem, according to him, is the fact that Bulgaria has decided not to rebuild the railway line from Sofia to Pernik, nor from Pernik to Gyueshevo in the project's second phase.

Corridor 8 is a key trans-European transport route linking the Adriatic and Black Seas via Albania, North Macedonia, and Bulgaria. The railway component of the corridor, connecting Skopje and Sofia, has seen slow and uneven progress due to infrastructure gaps and political tensions. On January 17, 2025, North Macedonia inaugurated the first completed stretch of its eastern railway section -between Kumanovo and Beljakovce. The second section to Kriva Palanka is under construction, while the third and final segment to the Bulgarian border remains pending, awaiting coordination with Bulgaria.

Bulgaria and North Macedonia have been in negotiations over a cross-border tunnel at Deve Bair, critical to completing the link. A Bulgarian draft agreement was submitted in late 2024, and North Macedonia formed a ministerial working group in response. Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski has said the deal must clearly define bilateral responsibilities. The Bulgarian government has emphasized its commitment to Corridor VIII, stating the final 2.4 km to the border near Gyueshevo will be completed by 2029.

Tensions flared in March 2025 when North Macedonia’s Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski accused Bulgaria of reallocating railway funds away from the Sofia–Skopje line, calling it a political signal. Bulgaria denied delaying the project and reaffirmed that the final tunnel and connecting section remain part of its national priorities under the Transport Connectivity Programme 2021–2027. The two sides continue to negotiate the terms for the cross-border tunnel, seen as a crucial link in the broader EU and NATO-backed infrastructure corridor.