Greece will widen and upgrade its section of the Rudozem-Xanthi road with two new projects, the governor of the East Macedonia and Thrace region, Christodoulos Topsidis, has announced. He presented them today at a meeting near the new border crossing.
On Tuesday, the governor of Bulgaria's Smolyan region, Georgi Pepelanov, told BTA that representatives of Bulgaria, Greece and the European Commission will symbolically cross the border at Rudozem on 23 October.
Where it began: Bulgaria and Greece to hold symbolic border crossing at Rudozem on 23 October
The first project is to widen the road after the village of Dimario. It has EU funding under Interreg Cross-Border Cooperation 2 (CrossBo 2), with €6m set aside. The second is a new bridge 7km from Xanthi, which will get €7m.
Topsidis said the crossing brings people closer and opens up chances for business, tourism and co-operation between the two nations. He said opening the road is the first step towards closer contact between people on both sides of the border. The priority in the rebuilding work is to let travellers from both sides reach the sea and the mountain resorts safely.
Pepelanov called the opening of the road a success for EU cross-border co-operation. He said the meeting is a chance to discuss proposals for a plan that would let lorries and buses use the Smolyan-Xanthi road. He told BTA that with the border checkpoint and its facilities now finished, a new stage begins in transport links between the two regions.
The meeting was organised by the managing authority of the Interreg Greece-Bulgaria programme. Its head, Maria Nezeriti, who has led the body for the 2021-2027 period, said EU support for the Rudozem-Xanthi road is an investment in the development of both regions, for the benefit of business and the local community.
The cross-border co-operation programme for the next funding period is still being drawn up. The managing authority expects all partners and institutions to take part in talks on it.