Bulgaria proposed that the strategic railway section Ruse-Gorna Oryahovitsa be included in the annex of the Connecting Europe Facility for the period 2028-2034. At a meeting of the Council of Transport Ministers today in Brussels, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadzhov emphasized that the section is key for cross-border connectivity, military mobility and the development of the European corridor “Baltic Sea - Black Sea - Aegean Sea“.
The Connecting Europe Facility proposal for the next EU financial framework provides for 51 billion euros for cross-border infrastructure and military mobility projects. Bulgaria has already managed to include the Sofia-Skopje section as a key route of Corridor 8 in the list of projects under this instrument.
Deputy Prime Minister Karadjov also emphasized the importance of the legislative proposals in the Road Safety Package for road safety.
“We support the introduction of higher and harmonized European requirements, especially with regard to vehicles that are subject to mandatory periodic technical inspections, as well as for odometer data. This is an important tool in the fight against fraud“, he said. Karadjov recalled that Bulgaria already maintains a national register with odometer readings for all vehicles.
He emphasized that our country has introduced annual technical inspections of all vehicles, including those over 10 years old – a measure that exceeds the requirements in the texts adopted today.
In a discussion on the dimensions and maximum permissible masses of certain road vehicles, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized Bulgaria's position as a transit country not to exceed the existing parameters in order to protect the road infrastructure and guarantee safety.