Balkan leaders meet to improve energy, transport links

SOFIA, Bulgaria – Leaders of four Balkan nations have met to discuss regional security, economic development and energy and transport connectivity.

The forum in Bulgaria’s Black Sea city of Varna was attended by the prime ministers of Bulgaria, Greece and Romania, the president of Serbia, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov said the meeting aimed to upgrade the region’s energy, infrastructure and digital connectivity. He says “our policy focuses on the EU values: connectivity, higher incomes and competitiveness.”

Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras announced plans for a railway link connecting the Bulgarian port of Burgas on the Black Sea with the Greek port of Alexandroupoli on the Aegean Sea, as well as a highway from Alexandroupoli to the Bulgarian border.