site.bta Protesting Drivers Briefly Close Vidin-Calafat Bridge across Danube over Long Wait at Border

Protesting Drivers Briefly Close Vidin-Calafat Bridge across Danube over Long Wait at Border

Vidin, on the Danube, January 24 (BTA) - Truck drivers blocked Danube Bridge 2 between Vidin in Bulgaria and Calafat in Romania briefly on Tuesday in protest over the long wait at the Bulgarian-Romanian border. Even the approach to the bridge was blocked for some 4 km, said the CEO of the company which runs the bridge, Lyubomir Nizamov.

Nizamov himself was stuck in the lines of vehicles close to the blockade. The officer on duty at the bridge said that the line of waiting cars is 6 km long.

The blockade was lifted two hours later after the protestors met with Vidin Regional Governor Momchil Stankov. He told them that the Foreign Ministers of Bulgaria and Romania are meeting later on Tuesday to discuss ways of dealing with the bottlenecks on Danube Bridge 2.

The Vidin Regional Governor is also meeting on Tuesday with representatives of Bulgarian and Romanian institutions involved in the operation of Danube Bridge 2, to discuss the situation.

The recent days are also seeing a swell in truck traffic through Danube Bridge that links Rousse on the Bulgarian side and Giurgiu on the Romanian. On a normal day, this bridge is used by some 800-900 trucks and recently the number has risen to 1,200-1,300. According to Border Police, the line of waiting trucks there is 10 km.

They blame the busy traffic on adverse weather condition and the suspension of ferry services on the Danube due to ice floe.