Foreign minister Velislava Petrova says Bulgaria has the political will to build Corridor 8. She spoke to reporters before the international ministerial conference on the route.

Petrova said officials are working to meet the deadlines, and she thinks the corridor will be ready by 2032.

"Corridor 8 is a strategic project for us," Petrova said. She said it has been a priority for many years, but work on it has not always been as active as it should be.

She said the meeting helps keep up political momentum and shows how far the projects and sections have got. Petrova wants people to stop seeing the corridor as a set of small projects. In her words, it is one big corridor that must be finished.

She said Corridor 8 is the link with the Western Balkans and must be seen as a whole. It offers rail links, as well as energy and military mobility.

Next year Bulgaria will host a connectivity forum. The focus there will be the Middle Corridor. Once it reaches Bulgaria, it should start linking the country with the rest of Europe and the Western Balkans, the minister said.