site.btaUPDATED PM Glavchev Orders Check into Long Queues at Kalotina Checkpoint on Border with Serbia

Caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev has ordered an inspection at the Kalotina checkpoint on the Bulgarian-Serbian border in connection with alerts received about the formation of queues, the Government press service said here on Thursday. 

The inspection will be carried out by the deputy director of the Border Police, Senior Commissioner Radoslav Kulekov, and the head of the Directorate for Infrastructure Development at the Kalotina border crossing, Plamen Petrov. 

According to the information of the Ministry of Interior, outbound traffic for trucks on Thursday morning was intense at the border crossing. 

Trucks at the Kalotina border crossing are serviced by two desks, which have processed 864 inbound trucks in the last day, said Senior Commissioner Kulekov, speaking to journalists later on Thursday. Two desks are also working on the Bulgarian side of the border, while there is only one on the Serbian side, he added. 

Border checks are carried out at the Kalotina checkpoint in accordance with European regulations and Bulgarian legislation, said Chief Inspector Manol Manolkov, head of the Kalotina border checkpoint. Border inspection of incoming trucks is carried out at two places, which is what the capacity is, he said. The border check itself takes no more than one minute, Manolkov said. He said information is constantly exchanged between the two sides through the contact centre to monitor traffic congestion.

On October 1, the Kalotina checkpoint  opened after reconstruction. The reconstruction works were carried out in two stages in the 2018-2024 period. They included renovation and expansion of the lanes for freight and passenger vehicles as well as the entire underground and surface infrastructure of the checkpoint.