Only two bridges connect Bulgaria and Romania along our 475 km of common river border - this is a transport deficit that functions as a new "iron curtain" within the European Union. This was emphasized by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadjov during a trilateral meeting with the Alternate Minister of Transport of Greece Konstantinos Kiranakis and the State Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Romania Horatiu Cosma, the press center of the Ministry of Transport reported.
„If we concentrate all the traffic at one point, in this case Ruse-Giurgev, we lose all the capacity when there is a traffic jam in the south-north direction. This is not reasonable and is not a sustainable transport architecture. We urgently need at least one more crossing to the east along the river, for example a bridge at Silistra - Kalaras", Karadjov said.
He called for an accelerated agreement between the three countries for the construction of additional bridge facilities. "We need to connect Bucharest with Athens and Alexandroupolis with Odessa - this is the common task of our three countries", he said. Karadjov also emphasized the need for real, not declarative, transport integration: “We can discuss connectivity for decades, but without real projects and actions, this connectivity will not happen. If you go to Calarasi and throw a stone, it will fall on the Bulgarian shore, we are that close. And at the same time, trucks wait for hours to cross the Danube with the only ferry”.
Greek Minister Konstantinos Kiranakis expressed support for the initiative and emphasized the need for short-term action: “European funding resources are available until the end of 2025. If we manage to develop a joint transport map, especially in the railway sector, we will be able to apply with integrated projects."
For his part, Romanian State Secretary Horatiu Cosma pointed out that the Alexandroupolis-Ruse-Giurgiu-Moldova corridor is of strategic importance for Bucharest. “The key issue is financing. We are ready to cooperate on more bridges. We are ready to talk about the first bridge at the beginning and then continue the conversation with more bridges," he said.
During the meeting, it was agreed to hold a technical meeting between representatives of infrastructure companies from the three countries in Thessaloniki in early November. The aim is to prepare joint project proposals, which will be presented to the European Commission by the end of 2025 for application under appropriate European programs.