Bulgaria, Greece and Romania are moving from political coordination to joint planning and implementation of specific cross-border transport projects along three routes between the Aegean Sea, the Danube and the Black Sea. Within the framework of a high-level meeting in Brussels on the topic “Friends of South-East Europe: Let's overcome the gaps together“, the Ministers of Transport Georgi Peev, Christos Dimas, Ionel Skrioşteanu, State Secretary for Transport and Infrastructure of Romania, together with the European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Dzidzikostas, the Coordinator for the European Transport Corridor “Baltic Sea - Black Sea - Aegean“ Mario Mauro, the coordinator of the European transport corridor “Rhine-Danube“ Margarida Marques, and the Vice-President of the European Investment Bank Robert de Groot signed an action plan. It is in implementation of the memorandum of understanding between the governments of the three countries on enhanced cross-border cooperation within the framework of the Black Sea-Aegean Corridor Platform, signed on 3 December 2025.
25 out of a total of 53 projects have been identified as initiatives of key importance and a high degree of readiness. These are large cross-border connections, bridges, rail and road corridors. Their total value is approximately 22.8 billion, with partial financing secured. The aim is to build a continuous transport network in the North-South and East directions – West.
“Cross-border projects for which there is political commitment, technical readiness and a real prospect for financing must be simultaneously included in the national investment programs, so that the construction of infrastructure on both sides of the border occurs in a synchronized manner“, said Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Peev during the forum. He added that a strategic priority for Bulgaria is the connection of the Aegean Sea through Bulgaria with the Danube, Romania and the European transport network.
Minister Peev expressed Bulgaria's support for strong European financing of cross-border transport infrastructure in the next EU financial framework for 2028-2034, as well as the increase in resources under the Connecting Europe Facility.
“When planning the new infrastructure, transport and defense must work together from the initial stage, so that investments meet both economic needs and the requirements for sustainability, crisis preparedness and military mobility“, the Bulgarian minister emphasized.
Rail connectivity is the dominant part of the portfolio of projects in the signed action plan. The goal is higher speed, greater cargo capacity, electrification, European security systems, doubling of sections, better connection with ports, more reliable connections Bulgaria – Greece – Romania – Moldova - Ukraine. The modernization of sections on one of the busiest railway routes - between Burgas, Varna and Ruse, as well as the design of two new bridges on the Danube - at Silistra and Nikopol, are also planned for financing in the period until 2034.
Among the projects that will be implemented the fastest is the modernization of the existing railway connection Ruse - Giurgiu - Bucharest including electrification of the existing bridge. The project will apply for financing from the “Reflow call” of the Connecting Europe Facility within the current programming period. The implementation deadline is 2028-30.
The deepening of the water border between Bulgaria and Romania, FAST2 Danube, is one of the financially secured projects, with its completion scheduled for 2028.
The construction of a new combined railway and road bridge Giurgiu-Rousse, with bypass routes around the two cities, is expected by 2032.