site.btaBTA Stringer Stopped at Serbian Border for Carrying Three Books in Bulgarian

BTA's stringer Aleksandar Dimitrov was stopped from entering Serbia from Bulgaria on Wednesday on the grounds that he was carrying three books in Bulgarian, Dimitrov told BTA. The Serbian border and customs authorities at the Ribarci checkpoint issued him a document saying that he must promptly return the books to Bulgaria, which he refused to sign.

Dimitrov, who is BTA's stringer in Bosilegrad (Serbia), said he knows his rights and the rule is that up to three books with the same title can be cleared through customs. He said he was being held for four hours for carrying three copies of "The Fate of Bulgarians in the Western Outlands" by the former consul in Nis, Edvin Sugarev.

Dimitrov said he had talked with the Bulgarian Consul General in Nis, Dimitar Tsanev, who promised to contact the authorities.

The "Western Outlands" refers to an area in Eastern Serbia which Bulgaria lost under the 1919 Treaty of Neuilly.