January 18 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria will work towards launching an air link between its capital Sofia and North Macedonia's Skopje, Bulgaria's new prime minister Kiril Petkov said on Tuesday.
The Sofia-Skopje air route will become reality within 60 days, Petkov told a news conference in Skopje streamed by North Macedonia's government on its YouTube channel.
A Bulgarian government delegation led by Petkov held a meeting with representatives of North Macedonia's government, including new prime minister Dimitar Kovachevski in Skopje on Tuesday.
Bulgaria and North Macedonia will work on finalising an agreement for cross-border cooperation for the period 2022 - 2029, which will provide for the opening of the Klepalo border crossing, Kovachevski told the same news conference.
The two governments also agreed to form working groups which will focus on joint projects and activities in the areas of economy, trade, innovations, infrastructure, transport and connectivity, green policies, European integration, culture, education, science and youth.
Furthermore, North Macedonia's transport minister Blagoj Bochvarski and his Bulgarian counterpart Nikolai Sabev agreed to create joint commissions that will work on creating conditions for full liberalization of transport of goods to and from third countries, North Macedonia's transport ministry said in a separate press release.
Bochvarski and Sabev also discussed projects for railway and road transport infrastructure, including the planned construction of a cross-border railway tunnel, part of European transport Corridor VIII.
North Macedonia plans to start the construction of the Kumanovo-Kriva Palanka railway section this spring and the rail section from Kriva Palanka to the Bulgarian border will start in 2023, Bochvarski said. The country also expects to finish the construction of the Rankovce-Kriva Palanka expressway section by the middle of 2023.
Bulgaria's new coalition government led by Petkov was sworn in last month. Kovachevski took office on Monday after North Macedonia's parliament elected him prime minister late on Sunday.