A meeting at the highest level between Macedonia, Greece, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, in the presence of the European Commissioner for Transport and Mobility, Apostolos Tsitsikostas, will be held on Thursday, June 18, in Thessaloniki, at which the importance of investments in Corridor 10 will once again be confirmed, informed Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikoloski in an interview with TV Sitel.
Regarding Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski’s announcements that the cornerstone for the high-speed railway on Corridor X, from Kumanovo to Gevgelija, is expected to be laid next autumn, and whether the announced ‘super train’ on the Sofia-Athens route should perhaps cause any concern, Nikoloski said that in this context, Mickoski’s vision played an important role in the development of these projects, and that the aforementioned meeting on June 18 is no coincidence.
“The better the connectivity in the Balkans, the better. It is normal for the capitals of Bulgaria and Greece to want to connect, but if we look at it from the perspective of economic viability, the route through Macedonia is far shorter. That is why, ever since this Government was elected, I have been saying that we must seriously work on the high-speed railway for Macedonia to maintain its geostrategic position. It is the intersection of Corridors VIII and X, but at the same time it is also the shortest route along Corridor X. Otherwise, Macedonia would remain an appendix. Considering that we will start concrete activities as early as next autumn, while the project you mentioned would be implemented in 2029 at the earliest, I believe that we will have a significant comparative advantage,” said Deputy PM Nikoloski.
