08/02/2024, 22:56

We have expanded the addressees of the petition by adding other interested parties: the governments of Italy and Albania. We also gave the opportunity to citizens from other countries to express their sympathy with our cause. Finally, we added new relevant links in the description text.


New petition description:

To the European Commission,To the Government of the Republic of BulgariaToItalyTo the Government of the Republic of Albania To the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia To the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria

Petition in support for the construction of the Pan-European Corridor 8

We, the undersigned citizens of thedifferent Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia,By expressing our support for the implementation of the Treaty of Friendship, Good-neighborliness and Cooperation between the two countries of 2017,countries,

By expressing our support for infrastructural connection between the twocountries countries,through incl.whose territory Corridor 8,8 passes, mentioned by them in a number of documents, for example in the Memorandum of Understanding for the Pan-European Transport Corridor 8 between Albania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Greece, Italy and Turkey of September 2002, the Treaty of Friendship, Good-neighborliness and Cooperation between Bulgaria and North Macedonia of 2017 and its 2019 and 2022 Protocols, the Memorandum of UnderstandingCooperation between Albania, Bulgaria and North Macedonia of October 2021, the joint declaration of Albania , Bulgaria, Italy and North Macedonia of November 2022, the declarations from the NATO Summit of July 2024, etc.,

By welcoming the successdecision achieved so far atof the EU level,to such as the inclusion ofinclude Corridor 8 in the scope of the Western Balkans - Eastern Mediterranean European Transport Corridor and theto designation by the EUdesignate at the end of 2023 of the Kriva Palanka - Deve Bair section as one of the six flagship projects of the "Global"Global Portal"Portal" strategy with secured financial support amounting to EUR 500 million,

We express our concern that some representatives of the government of the Republic of North Macedonia are promoting positions that could derail the plans to build Corridor 8 by diverting European funds for the construction of the rail component of Corridor 8 to another transport project.

Driven by our active civic stance and a sense of duty to future generations,

We call on the governments of the Republic of Italy, the Republic of Albania, the Republic of North Macedonia and the Republic of Bulgaria to act responsibly and in good faith towards all commitments and agreements made in order to timely build the sections of the route of Pan-European Corridor 8 on their territory, territories,

We call on the European Commission to strictly monitor the implementation of the project, taking into account its great importance for connecting the countries in the region and taking into account the current geopolitical moment and the need to strengthen NATO's collective security in South-Eastern Europe.

The government of North Macedonia, led by Hristijan Mickoski, wants to divert European funding for another transport project [1, 2, 3, 4].In this way, connectivity between the citizens and businesses of Italy, Albania, North Macedonia and Bulgaria will be discouraged, the collective security of NATO members in Southeast Europe will be threatened, and the interests of third countries will be favored.favored [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].