EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos has arrived in Sofia for an international ministerial conference on Corridor 8, the Bulgarian foreign ministry said. On arrival she said: "My vision is that one day the whole of the Western Balkans will be part of our Europe."
Kos said this vision goes beyond transport projects. If Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro join the European Union, border crossings and transport links will no longer matter as they do today, because there will be one Europe, she said.
"Bulgaria is a gateway to Europe for the Black Sea region, and for Turkey," Kos added. She said the Western Balkans play a linking role in the region.
She said the aim of the Sofia meeting is better links for people in future. Kos said Brussels, Sofia, the Western Balkans and EU member states are building a common Europe that acts together.
There are more than 130 projects in the region for new roads, railways and better border crossings. Corridor 8 links the Adriatic and Black seas by road and rail, and runs through Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria. It also matters for security and for military mobility between the two seas.
One of the main unfinished parts is the rail link between Bulgaria and North Macedonia. Sofia and Skopje signed an agreement on a cross-border rail tunnel in November 2025.
On the Bulgarian side, the line from Gyueshevo to the border, about 2.4km long, has not been built yet. Work on it is still to start.