Deputy Prime Minister Karadjov: Bulgaria and the Republic of Northern Macedonia have political consensus on intensive dialogue

Tomorrow will be the first flight Sofia - Skopje

We have the opportunity to be useful to people by making travel easier, connecting businesses and responding adequately to the challenges facing energy systems. These are the topics today - transport, energy and the new cross-border cooperation programme, which has more than 31 million euros in funding. The amount is twice as much as in the previous programming period and I believe that we must achieve at least twice as many results.

With these words, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of  Regional Development and Public Works, Grozdan Karadjov, opened the second meeting of the working group for cooperation between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of Northern Macedonia in the fields of infrastructure, transport and connectivity. The co-chairman is the Minister of  Transport and Communications of Northern Macedonia, Blagoj Bochvarski. The working group includes the Ministers of Transport and Communications Nikolay Sabev and the Minister of Energy Alexander Nikolov, the Minister of  Local Government Goran Milevski and the State Secretary in the Ministry of Economy of Northern Macedonia Razmena Cekich-Durovic.

On January 25, 2022, we set the stage for a new phase in our relationship. The long-awaited development of our common priorities is made possible by the work of four thematic working groups, one of which is ours. We have high expectations to achieve practical results and this is no accident. On the one hand, because for the first time we have a clear political consensus for a much more intensive dialogue, and on the other - the economic losses from unrealized projects are already creating problems on both sides of the border, said Deputy Prime Minister Karadjov.

We have all the prerequisites to show that the working group is the engine that will use the political impetus and will move our bilateral relations in the right direction and at an even higher speed, said Grozdan Karadjov.

We must show that we work for our citizens, for a stronger economy, more developed roads and solving energy problems that are common to Europe, said the Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Northern Macedonia Blagoj Bochvarski.

We are making very serious progress in the field of transport and communications. Tomorrow, representatives of the two governments, tourism investors and tour operators will fly to Skopje. One of the goals of the talks there is to create good tourist packages so that Macedonians and Bulgarians can travel quickly and easily, said Minister Nikolay Sabev.

We are also discussing the draft letter of the Ministers of Transport of Bulgaria, Northern Macedonia and Albania for the inclusion of part of Corridor No. 8 in the European project Western Balkans. The aim of our joint efforts is to have the financing of the railway provided by the European Union. Significant progress has been made in the field of international road transport. The two countries are following the path of full liberalisation, and they are working for a common market, the Minister of Transport explained. Minister Sabev announced that he has a plan based on the 2019 memorandum between Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia, so that the citizens of both countries can enjoy better roaming. The goal is to drop economic borders and allow people to make free decisions when they want to work or rest in either of the two neighboring countries.

Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia face many opportunities to make progress in bilateral relations in a short time and at the same time - very difficult topics, given the volatility of energy prices, said Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov. The integration of the markets will be indicative of how our neighbors can make rapid progress in the upcoming negotiations for membership in the European Union, added Minister Nikolov. He highlighted projects of common interest, especially in the field of decarbonisation and energy from renewable sources, as a factor in improving energy connectivity between the two countries.

Today we talked about cross-border cooperation, improving the joint work of municipalities and their associations and intensifying work on the construction and opening of the new border checkpoint "Klepalo", said Minister Goran Milevski. According to Minister Milevski, a meeting between the municipalities on both sides of the border will be organised within two months to discuss improving cooperation between them.

Important joint projects in the field of infrastructure, tourism, environmental protection and the promotion of entrepreneurship have been implemented under the joint cross-border cooperation program. In the last 8 years, 73 projects worth over 18 million euros have been implemented in the border areas. It is expected that the first measures under the new program for the period 2021 - 2027 will be opened this year. Full mobilisation has been made for the implementation of the new border checkpoint "Klepalo".

We have overcome the problems and are working actively. The municipalities on both sides of the border are satisfied with the joint work. We need to continue with new actions, said the Minister of Local Self-Government Milevski. We need to show the citizens that we are working actively, to see a quick result, especially with regard to the Klepalo border checkpoint, he said.

 Earlier in the day, experts in the field of regional policy discussed the work of the Flag Fund, which was of great interest to representatives of the Ministry of Local Self-Government. Opportunities will be sought for the Fund to finance projects of municipalities in Northern Macedonia.