Calafat-Vidin

Countries: Romania , Bulgaria

Presentation

Relations between the Romanian town of Calafat (18,000 inhabitants) and the Bulgarian city of Vidin (48,000 inhabitants) have long been constrained by the absence of a bridge linking them across the Danube.

Only the Giurgiu-Roussé bridge linked Romania and Bulgaria for a distance of 400 km along the river. A project of great importance from a territorial point of view, the construction of the new bridge in the territory of Calafat and Vidin formed a part of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region. The Calafat-Vidin road and rail bridge, under construction from 2007 and inaugurated on 14 June 2013 has thus replaced the use of transport by boat between the two riverbanks. This approximately two-kilometre-long bridge forms part of Pan-European transport corridor IV (Dresden/Nuremberg - Prague - Vienna - Bratislava - Győr - Budapest - Arad - Bucharest - Constanţa / Craiova - Sofia - Thessaloniki / Plovdiv - Istanbul). It comprises four lanes for road traffic, a railway line and paths for pedestrians and cyclists. Costing a total of 282 million euros, of which 106 million were invested by the European Union, this project is intended to facilitate relations between the communities as well as simultaneously creating commercial links across south-eastern Europe, Turkey and central Europe.

Ultimately, the objective is to also encourage socio-economic links between the Bulgarian and Romanian cities on either side and to bring new investment to the border regions.  Involved in the construction of the bridge, the two cities have begun their cooperation and are notably looking to develop their tourism offering on either side of the border. Cross-border projects led by the two cities are supported by the Interreg IV Romania-Bulgaria operational programme for the period 2007-2013.