Skopje, 28 June 2025 (MIA) -- Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski met Saturday with Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadjov on the sidelines of the Global Transport Connectivity Forum in Istanbul.

According to a press release from the Ministry of Transport, the two ministers discussed the necessity of modernizing the European transport and rail corridors, especially Corridor VIII, to boost regional economic development and facilitate trade.

The meeting highlighted the construction project's strategic importance for NATO, too, in connecting the Adriatic to the Black Sea.

Nikoloski and Karadjov agreed to meet again in the near future to discuss the wording of "an agreement on buildubn a tunnel that is to connect Macedonia and Bulgaria, which will move things along on building the Corridor VIII rail," the release said.

The release added the two transport ministers had also agreed to send experts to the Corridor VIII meeting the European Commission is organizing in July. mr/