site.btaBulgarian Road Hauliers, Transport Minister Call for Complete Lifting of Greek Border Blockade after Failure of Other Arrangements

Bulgarian Road Hauliers, Transport Minister Call for Complete Lifting of Greek Border Blockade after Failure of Other Arrangements


Kulata border crossing, Bulgarian-Greek border, February 18 (BTA) - The situation at the Kulata-Promachonas checkpoint on the Bulgarian-Greek border remains tense even after visits by the Bulgarian Transport Minister, Ivaylo Moskovski, who met with representatives of the Greek authorities and police, after weeks of border blockades put up by protesting Greek farmers.

Transport Minister Moskovski declared support for the calls of the Bulgarian hauliers for complete lifting of the blockade after arrangements for opening the border at agreed time windows have failed. He also sided with Bulgarian truck drivers who have been staging counter-blockades on the Bulgarian side as response to the disruption of their business.

The Minister was still at Kulata on Thursday morning.

No vehicles have been allowed to cross the border from Greece for 48 hours now and traffic remains on halt both ways.

Late on Wednesday night an offer came from the Greek farmers for a new on-off border opening scheme but the Bulgarian truck drivers turned down the offer after previous arrangements were broken by the Greek protestors, and called for complete lifting of the blockade. Minister Moskovski fully supported this position.

On the Bulgarian side, trucks are waiting to cross the border at Kulata in a 13-14 km line. The picture is the same at the nearby Ilinden-Exohi checkpoint.