Every high school student in Bulgaria has been raised with the cliche that Bulgaria lies in a strategic spot between Europe and Asia, making it a natural crossroad for trade. Even if this were once true, the abandonment of any geopolitical ambition by Bulgaria's political class might render its location redundant once and for all. There are fewer better examples of this than the decline of EU's Transport Corridor number 8 (or simply Corridor 8).
Its story is somewhat of a sad saga of "what could have been" - there are documentaries, tons of articles and miles of plans about it. At its core, it is a transport corridor that should connect the Black and Ionian seas, passing through Bulgaria, N. Macedonia and Albania. At its core, however, it is a political project - a lifeline for the Western Balkans, a link between them and other economies, and the only link between the western and eastern parts of the peninsula at the time. This, at least, was the situation at the time of its offering - in 1994. That parts of it remain unfinished to this day attests to the failure of the vision.
There has been renewed noise around the corridor as much of the cargo traffic from Asia has begun to pass through the Silk Road and huge Chinese investment has reached the Black Sea. But also the war in Ukraine has put a spotlight on how transportation infrastructure works and which allied countries are interconnected and which are not. Bulgaria remains among the second.
At the moment, the main part of Corridor 8 that is still pending completion is the connection Bulgaria - N. Macedonia. Since a new cabinet of VMRO-DMPNE came to power in N. Macedonia, talks about the corridor have stalled as it has become a symbol of opposition to Sofia. At the moment, Skopje's official position is that the project should be changed, but progress depends on securing the necessary funding and technical assistance from the European Union.
This, on the one hand, is a consequence of the common problems between the two countries, but on the other hand, it plays seriously for Serbian ambitions. Corridor 10 is what Belgrade is working towards - it connects Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, N. Macedonia and Hungary with Greece and Bulgaria. In Serbia, a significant part of the infrastructure has been completed. In recent years, in the Western Balkans, especially in Serbia and N. Macedonia, significant initiatives have been taken to modernize the railway and road sections of this corridor in order to increase the speed and safety of traffic.
Major road projects connecting Skopje with the borders of Serbia and Greece have been completed, facilitating vehicular traffic along the corridor. The region is generally inter-connected, likewise to the Mediterranean ports and upwards to Central Europe.
To build or not to build modern infrastructure, that is the question
In October, representatives from Bulgaria and the Republic of N. Macedonia solemnly reaffirmed their commitment in Brussels to continue the construction of rail Corridor 8 connecting Skopje and Sofia, under the Trans-European Transport Network Regulation. The corridor is largely financed by the European Union (see box). On the territory of N. Macedonia, near Skopje, the corridor crosses and coincides in the Skopje - Kumanovo section with the main route of corridor 10.
Just a few hours later, however, the Minister of Transport and Communications and Deputy Prime Minister of N. Macedonia, Aleksandar Nikoloski, stated that the plan for Corridor 8 will have to be changed, as there is no agreement from the Macedonian side on the existing project and price.
At the moment, 23 km remain unfinished from it along the last section Kriva Palanka - Bulgarian border. There is even a public procurement process in N. Macedonia and a contractor has been selected, but it will obviously be canceled.
Skopje demands that Bulgaria begin the design of a tunnel tube, with both sides starting to dig the tunnel at the same time. It is also pushing for a new project that would be "acceptable to N. Macedonia and with costs within reasonable limits," according to the local Channel 5.
According to diplomatic sources of Capital weekly in Brussels, Skopje's decision is not viewed favorably by the European institutions, although there is no official comment (nor from the Bulgarian authorities, for that matter, despite inquiries). "Serbia has no interest in N. Macedonia and Bulgaria connecting and warming their relations. Their goal is for Corridor 10 to become the main route of traffic from Western Europe to Thessaloniki (and for Sofia to remain completely isolated). N. Macedonia follows their line," says a source who does not wish to be named.
Corridor 10
Brussels has provided record funding to the region to ensure the connectivity of the six countries to the west and east of the bloc and to strengthen economic and trade ties (through the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III) 2021 - 2027, with a budget of over 14 billion, and the new growth plan for the Western Balkans (6 billion euros). At least 7 billion of these funds will finance infrastructure in the Western Balkans, part of the expanded trans-European transport network.
By 2027, Serbia will receive 1.58 billion euros from the EU, Bosnia and Herzegovina 969 million euros, Albania 922 million euros, Kosovo 888 million euros, N. Macedonia 807 million euros and Montenegro 383.5 million euros under the targeted financing of the Western Balkans (Global Gateway). Most of the slots on them have already been specified and agreed, but there is clearly a movement to redirect some of the money.
Stefen Hudolin, who heads the Cooperation department at the Delegation of the European Union in N. Macedonia, told BNT of Skopje's intentions. When asked which of the two transport corridors receives greater European support in the Balkans, Hudolin did not give a direct answer.
Blocked from the N. and the West
The fact is that this whole situation is developing against the background of the almost complete absence of the Bulgarian side from the table. Sofia is not only silent about its internal problems, but infrastructurally it is not progressing - there is no development on this and other projects from Bulgaria. Talks about a tunnel under Petrokhan and the connection with N. Macedonia via the Gyueshevo - Dupnica highway as part of Corridor 8 are in the nascent phase. Sofia remains the only European capital without a fast highway and rail connection to another member state or a neighboring country (if we don't count Istanbul).
Relations with Romania do not help either. The direction of Corridor 4, which passes through Hungary, Kalafat, Vidin to Thessaloniki, is one of the slowest trans-European transport corridors in terms of implementation time. There, even the idea of a rail link was killed some time ago because of the high cost.
The Bulgarian Road Infrastructure Agency commented that sections of the Vidin - Botevgrad direction are currently under construction or planning along corridor 4, with the opening of the first 7.3 km of the new route and another 14 km between Makresh and Bela. The Mezdra - Botevgrad road and other key sections are being modernized. But the entire corridor (about 446 km Vidin - Sofia - Kulata border crossing) is far from being completed.
On the Romanian side, "all 3 slots from Lugozh to Drobeta - Turnu Severin are missing. This is about 150 km. Two of the three sectors are now only with a recently signed tender for a feasibility study (24 months), part of the future A6 highway. From there to Calafat, we don't have a tender for a feasibility study for a new highway," commented Capital sources from their road agency.
The Romanians do not hide that they are strengthening NATO's eastern flank from Constanta to the Hungarian border, as well as working on the navigability of the Danube, also part of the European transport network. But this does not particularly help Sofia, which remains increasingly isolated in the new geopolitical game on the continent.
Against this background, the main competition - Serbia, invests significant funds (national funding, Chinese investments including and of course, European money) to improve the transport infrastructure along the main European corridors on its territory. Thus, the only thing that still prevents the complete isolation of Bulgaria is the unstable Serbian position between the EU and Russia.
Estimated total investment size 2.1 billion euros
Of those 1.8 billion from Republic of N. Macedonia and 357 mln. from Albania.367.6 mln. euros approved grants from the EU
302.6 mln. euros for Repuiblic of N. Macedonia
65 mln. for Albania416.6 km planned to be constructed with european funds (from 594.7 total length)
262.8 km in Republic N. Macedonia
153.8 km in Albania.
Every high school student in Bulgaria has been raised with the cliche that Bulgaria lies in a strategic spot between Europe and Asia, making it a natural crossroad for trade. Even if this were once true, the abandonment of any geopolitical ambition by Bulgaria's political class might render its location redundant once and for all. There are fewer better examples of this than the decline of EU's Transport Corridor number 8 (or simply Corridor 8).
Its story is somewhat of a sad saga of "what could have been" - there are documentaries, tons of articles and miles of plans about it. At its core, it is a transport corridor that should connect the Black and Ionian seas, passing through Bulgaria, N. Macedonia and Albania. At its core, however, it is a political project - a lifeline for the Western Balkans, a link between them and other economies, and the only link between the western and eastern parts of the peninsula at the time. This, at least, was the situation at the time of its offering - in 1994. That parts of it remain unfinished to this day attests to the failure of the vision.
