Greece, Bulgaria announce new rail link plan between Black Sea, Aegean ports

KAVALA - Agence France-Presse

The prime ministers of Greece and Bulgaria on Sept. 6 announced plans for a new rail link from the Aegean to the Black Sea, bypassing the congested Bosphorus Strait maritime route.

“We have a vision to get the Balkans going,” Greek PM Alexis Tsipras said from the northern port of Kavala, where he signed a memorandum on the project with his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov.

“We are opening new trade routes by connecting the Aegean with the Danube and the Black Sea,” he told reporters.

The EU-approved project, which has no launch or completion date at present, aims to link the Greek ports of Thessaloniki and Kavala with Varna, Burgas and Ruse in Bulgaria.

The Greek section alone is expected to cost up to four billion euros ($4.7 billion).

There are talks to bring Serbia into the project, as well as Romania at a later date, Borisov said.

A meeting between the four states on the issue will be held in Varna on October 3, the Bulgarian PM said.