North Macedonia and Bulgaria speed up cross-border rail tunnel plans
At the second Mixed Committee meeting in Skopje both countries pledged to accelerate procedures and noted EU and financial-institution support.
The Ministry of Transport of North Macedonia said that North Macedonia and Bulgaria used the second meeting of the Mixed Committee in Skopje to reaffirm their commitment to speed up procedures related to construction of a cross-border railway tunnel.
At the session, Deputy Minister of Transport Kaltrina Zekoli Shaqiri said she was satisfied with the progress made and with the collaborative work between the two countries.
Next steps and financing
Shaqiri underscored the partners' pledge to accelerate administrative and preparatory steps so the project can move forward more quickly. She also highlighted that the project has received backing from the European Union and from international financial institutions for its financing.
The Ministry did not publish a detailed timetable at the meeting, but indicated that speeding up procedures remains a priority for both sides as they prepare for the engineering and funding phases.
Officials from both countries stressed continued cooperation at technical and political levels to keep the project on track and to facilitate forthcoming permit and procurement processes.
Photo: press material from the event
