Belgrade, 17 November 2023 (MIA) – North Macedonia and Serbia signed Friday a Memorandum of Cooperation for the establishment of a high-speed railway network as part of railway Corridor X.

The Memorandum was signed in the Government of the Republic of Serbia by the Minister of Transport and Communications of North Macedonia, Blagoj Bochvarsi, and the Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Goran Vesić, in the presence of prime ministers Dimitar Kovachevski and Ana Brnabić, MIA’s Belgrade correspondent reports.

A working group is expected to be established in the coming period in order to define an action plan for the project.

The first stage of the project foresees the construction of 50 kilometers of rail on Macedonian territory, while the intention is to fully construct railway Corridor X, i.e., to connect it to Thessaloniki and Athens. The speed of the rail is expected to be at least 160 kilometers per hour, but talks are being held to increase this speed. 

At a press conference after the signing of the Memorandum, Prime Minister Kovachevski said Corridor X is an important European corridor for North Macedonia, and its reconstruction is "more than necessary" in order for the country to maintain its competitive position in the region, while also ensuring the development of the entire region through the high-speed railway network.

“This is one more opportunity within the framework of the regional initiative to ensure fast transport of goods and services not only through the Western Balkan countries, but also to the member states of the European Union. Our commitment to cooperation with all countries of the region benefits the citizens and businesses. We don’t have economies that are as powerful as the ones of EU countries, which is why it is important to cooperate because our strength lies in unity. The European Union must remain our focus, because that is where the countries of the region belong,” said Kovachevski.

According to Serbian Prime Minister Brnabić, the signing of the Memorandum traces the path for future development of relations between the two countries. Railway infrastructure, she noted, is also a priority in the European Union’s transport strategy. 

“Railway traffic is currently the most important traffic both for Europe and the entire world, because it is the most environmentally acceptable type of traffic. Serbia is investing a lot of funds in this area,” said Brnabić.

Serbia has constructed a high-speed rail connecting Belgrade and Novi Sad, and it expects to complete the section to Subotica by the end of 2024, by doing so it will complete the part of the corridor that connects to Hungary.

“We also expect Hungary to construct the section from Budapest to Subotica by the end of 2025. We are continuing to invest in railway Corridor X with the modernization of the Belgrade – Niš railway. Our plan was [to modernize the railway] from Niš to Preševo as well, but in the last couple of months we began discussing [the extension of] the section to Skopje, and today we are signing this Memorandum,” said Brnabić.

Additionally, Brnabić urged a faster establishment of a working group for economic cooperation between the two countries, because, she said, positive results are being noted in this area. Trade exchange reached record-high figures in 2022, standing at EUR 1.4 billion, 28 percent more than in 2021.

Photo: MIA