The European Union is “fully supportive” of the completion of the Halkalı-Kapıkule railway line between Turkey and Bulgaria. The announcement came on 27 November after a meeting at the EU-Turkey High-Level Transport Dialogue in Brussels, and was made by Turkish Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan and EU Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc.
“This project has clear European added value and plays an important role in long-distance connectivity between Europe and Asia through Turkey,” Violeta Bulc said. Turkey and the EU are “determined” to finalize the project, which will benefit all EU member states connected to Asia, Ahmet Arslan stated. Both officials also said they had established a “positive agenda” on cooperation going forward, with the objective to start the works in 2018.
When the project concludes, it will connect Turkey directly to the TEN-T rail network through Bulgaria. The railway project started in 2008 with an EU financial contribution as part of the TEN-T plan.
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