Romania, Bulgaria To Call On EU To Extend Interval To Finance Works On Vidin-Calafat Bridge

Boc met Friday with his Bulgarian counterpart Boiko Borisov and visited Vidin to see how works on the Vidin-Calafat Bridge over the Danube are unfolding.

The Bulgarian prime minister said works on the Vidin-Calafat Bridge will be halted if the European Commission does not agree to extend the interval to finance the bridge construction.

The Romanian and Bulgarian governments signed Friday a declaration calling on the EU to extend the interval of eligible expenses related to projects co-financed through the IPSA program and Cohesion Fund to December 31, 2011.

The joint declaration was signed in Sofia at the end of the meeting between Boc and Boiko Borisov. It concerns projects financed through the former ISPA (Instrument for Structural Policies for pre-Accession) program and the Cohesion Fund, approved between 2000 and 2006.

In the document signed Friday, the two governments also request that the eligibility of expenses related to projects valued at more than EUR100 million, backed by the European Commission and International Monetary Fund, and approved between 2000 and 2006, be extended to December 31, 2012.