Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania are promoting the construction of the “Black Sea–Aegean Sea” multimodal transport corridor, which is intended to connect the ports, railways, highways, and logistics hubs of the three countries with access to the Ukrainian and Moldovan borders.
The project will become part of the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). The European Commission notes that the broader “Baltic Sea–Black Sea–Aegean Sea” corridor spans 11 EU countries, as well as Ukraine and Moldova, connecting the Baltic, Black, and Aegean Seas.
The new section between Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania will consist of three main branches. The western branch is planned to run along the route Athens–Thessaloniki–Promachonas–Kulata–Sofia–Vidin/Calafat–Craiova–Bucharest. The central branch will connect Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis with the Bulgarian cities of Svilengrad and Ruse, then continue through Giurgiu and Bucharest to
Siret on the Romanian border with Ukraine, as well as to Ungheni on the border with Moldova. The Eastern Branch will connect Alexandroupolis with the Bulgarian ports of Burgas and Varna, and then on to Constanța in Romania.
To coordinate the project, the three countries are establishing the Black Sea–Aegean Sea Corridor Platform (BACP). The European Commission reported that Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania signed a memorandum on the development of transport infrastructure on December 3, 2025, in Brussels. The document provides for coordination at the political and technical levels, the exchange of data on national investment plans, and the joint promotion of priority TEN-T projects.
European Commissioner for Transport Apostolos Tzitzikostas called the project a step toward strengthening the strategic north-south corridor in Southeast Europe. According to him, closer cooperation between Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania should strengthen ties for citizens and businesses, as well as enhance Europe’s security, competitiveness, and resilience in the Aegean, Black Sea, and Danube regions.
The project’s significance for the region goes beyond mere transportation modernization. The corridor could provide Ukraine with an additional southern logistics route to ports in the Aegean Sea, Bulgaria, and Romania, as well as strengthen the role of Constanța, Burgas, Varna, Alexandroupoli, and Thessaloniki as hubs for trade, agricultural exports, industrial cargo, and container transport.
For the Balkans, this also represents an opportunity to reduce dependence on overburdened or vulnerable routes. Since the outbreak of full-scale war against Ukraine, the importance of alternative routes via the Danube, the Black Sea, Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece has risen sharply. The central branch to Siret could effectively become an extension of Ukrainian logistics routes to southern Europe.
The project is also important for the military and crisis mobility of the EU and NATO, but its civilian economic value is no less significant. This involves faster transport between the three seas, better connections between ports and railways, reduced logistics costs, and the creation of a sustainable infrastructure for trade between Ukraine, Moldova, the Balkans, Central Europe, and the Mediterranean.
For Ukraine, this represents a potential new route to the Mediterranean; for Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece, it means strengthening their roles as transit countries; and for the entire region, it is a step toward more sustainable logistics between the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Danube, and the Aegean Sea.
Aegean Sea, BACP, BLACK SEA, BULGARIA, GREECE, INFRASTRUCTURE, LOGISTICS, ROMANIA, TEN-T, UKRAINE
