Bulgaria and Romania officially launched the construction of their first cross-border quantum communication link at a ceremony held at the Institute of Robotics at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences on March 19, 2026. According to the Bulgarian Ministry of Innovation and Growth, the new link will connect Sofia and Bucharest and form part of the emerging European Quantum Communication Infrastructure.
Deputy Minister of Innovation and Growth Borislav Bankov stated that the link to Bucharest would provide a secure communications channel for government institutions, research organizations, and strategic enterprises in the region. He noted that the event represented the continuation of results already achieved, referring to the quantum link already established between Sofia and the Greek border.
Organized by the Institute of Robotics and the QUASAR Competence Centre, the SBIQCI (Sofia-Bucharest Interconnection of Quantum Communication Infrastructure) project is part of the EuroQCI initiative. Combined with the SEEWQCI Greece-Bulgaria corridor and the existing national QCI routes, implementation would create one of the longest strategic terrestrial quantum communication networks in Europe, connecting Southeast Europe with Central and Western Europe.