North Macedonia and Bulgaria to sign deal for cross-border railway tunnel

Deputy PM and Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski and Bulgarian counterpart Grozdan Karadjov will sign Thursday an agreement on the preparation, construction and operation of a cross-border railway tunnel between the two countries.

The signing event will take place at the Gyueshevo railway station, in the attendance of representatives of the European Commission, NATO and the United States, the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the World Bank, the Ministry of Transport said in a press release, CE Report quotes MIA.

It notes that the 2.4km-long railway tunnel will represent the cross-border point between the two countries, evenly split on both sides.

Besides the economic significance for Macedonia and the region, the Corridor VIII railway tunnel has security implications in the NATO context as well, reads the press release.

In the framework of the Corridor VIII's eastern flank, the Kumanovo-Beljakovce railway section is already in use, the second section Beljakovce-Kriva Palanka is currently being constructed, with intensive preparations ongoing for the third section from Kriva Palanka to the Bulgaria border, which will link up with the cross-border tunnel.