Bulgarian representatives do not want to come to Skopje for a third meeting in connection with the railway Corridor 8 because “they will face their own defeat and will have to start working”, said in an interview on TV Channel 5 Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport of the Republic of North Macedonia Aleksandar Nikoloski, BTA reported.
“When I became minister, I saw that the third phase of the railway line to Bulgaria (from Kriva Palanka to the border with Bulgaria) was problematic in many aspects. Instead of starting a dialogue with us to solve the problems, Bulgaria started attacking me for being part of the Belgrade-Athens axis, for being against Bulgaria, for being for Serbia.
This is nonsense, there is no other word. They started writing letters to European officials and politicians, to build a narrative about Serbian, Greek influence in (Northern) Macedonia. And while they were wasting time on this, we were working, presenting our arguments, and now, with our arguments, we won 3:0 against the Bulgarians.
In October, there was a dialogue in Brussels and we presented our arguments. At the end of October, there was a second meeting in Sofia, where all three of our arguments were accepted: that the route is too expensive and needs to be revised, that the tunnel should be built jointly, and that Bulgaria should build its part of the railway line. And when all this was agreed, there was to be a third meeting in Skopje, at which the agreement would be sealed and we would begin implementing the project.
It was agreed that the meeting would take place in the third or fourth week of November. To this day, the Bulgarians avoid coming to the meeting. Because they are aware that their thesis has collapsed like a house of cards. The last stone in this collapse was the letter from the municipalities of the Kyustendil region to the caretaker government, in which they say that work is being done on the Macedonian side and that a highway will be built, work is being done on the railway line, and nothing is being done here (in Bulgaria).
It is easy to sell fog and make propaganda, but when you face reality, it is difficult and that is why they do not come to the meeting. We have no problem with the meeting being in Brussels and Sofia, but they do not want to come because they will face their own defeat and have to start working. Once we reach this agreement, they should start working, and they clearly don't feel like working," Nikoloski said.
In response to a parliamentary question in the Parliament of North Macedonia at the end of November, Nikoloski also pointed out that representatives of the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport had refused to participate in the third technical meeting related to the Corridor 8 railway. In its position at the time, the Ministry of Transport in Sofia replied that Bulgaria had not declined participation in the meeting, "but would provide an answer after receiving Skopje's comments on the document from the technical meeting in Sofia, held on October 31, 2024, together with the EC and the European financial institutions."
The position of the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport also stated that "the construction of Lot 3 (from Kriva Palanka to the border with Bulgaria) is a commitment solely and exclusively of North Macedonia," and "Bulgaria has clearly indicated the deadlines and its commitments to build the route on its territory“.
According to Aleksandar Nikoloski, North Macedonia should be connected by rail to Sofia “and down to the Black Sea”, and he has never had a dilemma about whether North Macedonia's priority is the construction of Corridor 8 or Corridor 10, but Albania also “does nothing regarding the railway”.
“We are the only ones working and spending money regarding the railway. It is easy to sign memorandums, take pictures in Brussels, in Washington, and talk about the Corridor here and there, but someone has to work. Currently, the only country working on Corridor 8 is (North) Macedonia, Nikoloski pointed out, adding that the first phase of the railway Corridor 8, Kumanovo-Belyakovce, will be opened for the New Year.
The new highway from Kumanovo to the Deve Bair border checkpoint (the border with Bulgaria) will be opened for the New Year, but "it is a shame from Gyueshevo how the road to Sofia looks like," Nikoloski said.