Landmark deal ends 28-year Bulgaria motorway dispute with agreement to protect Kresna Gorge
28 years since the Struma motorway project in Bulgaria started, the Save Kresna Gorge coalition, Road Infrastructure Agency and Ministry of Environment and Water have reached a landmark agreement to implement the final section of the motorway outside the Kresna Gorge.
16 June 2025

The agreement recognises both the importance of completing this remaining segment of the motorway and the ecological significance of the Kresna Gorge — part of two Natura 2000 sites and an area of exceptional biodiversity vital to the conservation of Europe’s nature.
As a sign of good will, civil society members of the Save Kresna Gorge coalition have also withdrawn their legal appeals related to the construction of the final section of the motorway, leading to the closing of ongoing court cases.
The agreement outlines each party’s commitments and marks tangible progress in permanently and fully redirecting transit traffic away from the Kresna Gorge. The existing I-1 (E79) road, which currently runs through the gorge, will be retained for local use only.
Struma motorway between Sofia and Thessaloniki is part of the core network of European roads under the TEN-T Regulation, which links major cities and nodes, and must be completed by 2030.
Andrey Ralev, Biodiversity Campaigner at CEE Bankwatch Network – ‘By reaching this historic agreement, Bulgaria now has a clear path to meet the requirements of the TEN-T Regulation and ensure that the Struma motorway complies with the core network criteria. Keeping the motorway within the Kresna Gorge would have made such compliance impossible. Now it is up to the European Commission to support this solution, which aligns with both EU transport policy and the protection of biodiversity under Natura 2000.‘
Contacts:
Andrey Ralev, Biodiversity campaigner, CEE Bankwatch Network, andrey.ralev@bankwatch.org
Desislava Stoyanova, Economic justice campaigner at Environmental association Za Zemiata, Bulgaria – desislava@zazemiata.org
Notes for editors:
The construction of this section of the Struma motorway has been closely monitored under the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention) since 2001. At its 44th meeting in December 2024, with the support of the Convention’s Secretariat, a convergence of views was reached between the Bulgarian authorities and the complainants regarding the Kresna Gorge.
The Standing Committee recommended that the Bulgarian authorities prioritise technically feasible solutions that route the western lane of the Struma motorway — in the direction from Sofia towards Greece — outside the Gorge.
Following the Committee’s decision, the Bulgarian Council of Ministers adopted a formal roadmap for completing the Struma motorway (Decision No. 62/12.02.2025). As part of this roadmap, preparations are under way to commission a study identifying an alternative route outside the Kresna Gorge for the western lane, including requirements to avoid significant impacts on species and habitats within the Kresna and Kresna–Ilindentsi Natura 2000 sites.
The motorway received significant funding from the European Union. The ‘Operational Program Transport 2007-2013’ funded the construction of sections 1, 2, and 4, as well as the preparation of section 3 through Kresna Gorge.
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Institution: EU
Location: Bulgaria
Project: Kresna Gorge / Struma motorway, Bulgaria
Tags: Kresna gorge | Natura 2000