With an official ceremony, Zheleznitsa tunnel on Struma motorway was opened to traffic. The tunnel is 2 kms. long, and it is the longest tunnel built in the country. Struma motorway is part of the Orient/East–Med Corridor, linking Vidin with Kulata, catering to the traffic to Greece. It is the shortest route between Western and Central Europe towards Thessaloniki and the Aegean Sea, connecting Europe with Asia. Sofia is expecting a positive response by the European Commission, within a fortnight, regarding the last section of the motorway across Kresna Gorge. “The proposal is for it to pass East of the gorge,” said Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Andrey Tsekov, and added that an optimistic deadline for the completion of Struma motorway would be 2028.

Mayors of municipalities adjacent to the motorway demanded the construction, as a matter of urgency, of an additional road link to Simitly, where traffic towards Bansko-Gotze Delchev-Greece can be diverted to avoid congestion after the new tunnel Zheleznitsa.