This was stated by Steffen Hudolin, head of the Cooperation Department at the EU delegation in Skopje, as BGNES envoy in the Macedonian capital Dimitar Ruskov reported.
In response to a question by BGNES on the request of Macedonian Prime Minister Hristian Mickoski, Hudolin said.
He refused to comment on claims by Macedonian Prime Minister Hristian Mickoski and Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski that there were attempts to "bribe" them regarding the railway line to Bulgaria.
BGNES recalls that a large part of the project was financed by Brussels, in a combination of a substantial grant and funds from the EIB and EBRD.
The EU official recalled the key importance of the strategic Corridor 8 (Varna-Durras) for the whole region and explained that this does not take away from the importance of Corridor 10 (Greece-North Macedonia-Serbia-Hungary - ed.).
"The conditions for the second intergovernmental conference and North Macedonia's accession to the EU are clear. They are public, everyone can get acquainted with them", Hudolin added regarding Skopje's European integration.
In recent weeks, Mickoski and his ministers have called for a transfer of funds from Corridor 8 to Corridor 10. The European transport Corridor 10 runs from north-west to south-east and connects Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia and Hungary with Greece and Bulgaria.
The Macedonian government argues that the connection to Belgrade and Thessaloniki is more important for the economy of North Macedonia, as opposed to the Bulgaria-North Macedonia-Albania route. The latter is part of the so-called NATO Mobility Corridor, but the government in Skopje considers it a failed investment. And the latest report from the European Commission on the country stressed that the construction of Corridor 8 should be urgently accelerated.
Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski recently said that the rail route is too expensive, costing around €20 million per kilometre, and that Bulgaria does not even have a finished project - a claim that has been refuted by documents from the Bulgarian side.
Nikoloski also announced the withdrawal of the members of the Commission for the construction of the third phase of the railway with Bulgaria.
