Macedonian Transport Minister Alexander Nikoloski stated that Bulgaria has no desire to complete the railway connection with North Macedonia, BGNES reported.
The Prime Minister's right-hand man Hristijan Mickoski claims that the project (part of the strategic Corridor 8) has many flaws.
"The first disadvantage is that it passes through the town of Kriva Palanka and 20 houses have to be demolished. Second, given that it passes through a mountain belt, the trains will not be able to move at more than 60 km per hour, and the point is to get there faster. Third, it ends in a tunnel that doesn't lead anywhere on the other side. It's true that Gueshevo has a railway, but we can't connect it." said Nikoloski.
"We still do not have an answer to the question of whether the Bulgarians will build and when," said the minister during an inspection of the construction works on the Rankovtse-Kriva Palanka expressway.
Strategic Corridor 8 should connect Italy, Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria. Construction works started already in October 2022.
BGNES reminds that both Alexander Nikoloski and Hristijan Mickoski support the prioritization of the transport link Belgrade-Skopje-Thessaloniki - part of Corridor 10.
The Macedonian prime minister said earlier that part of Corridor 8 "ends up in a dead end, in a half-tunnel, without predictability" and called for funding to be redirected. | BGNES
