site.btaWorking Group to Propose PM to Build Buffer Parking Lots at Bulgaria’s Border Crossings

A working group will make a proposal to the prime minister to build buffer parking lots at Bulgaria's border control checkpoints, caretaker Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova told reporters following the Council of Ministers' meeting on Friday.

The construction of the parking lots is envisaged in the long-term measures that the working group will present to the prime minister. These long-term measures will be part of an overall concept related to the construction and modernization of border crossings, more specifically a traffic management system and a queue management system.

In Petkova's words, a comprehensive analysis on the location of the buffer parking lots and their ownership has been drafted.

The short-term measures foresee meetings with representatives of Romania and Greece, as well as with representatives of the Customs Agency for taking synchronised actions to reduce the time that freight vehicles spend in traffic jams, she added.

"We are developing a comprehensive strategy for the modernization and construction of border crossings, with a focus on borders with non-EU countries," Petkova stressed. Regarding the EU's internal borders, Petkova recalled that the caretaker government has taken all measures to make Bulgaria join the Schengen area by land. In her words, when Bulgaria joins Schengen by land the traffic will decrease significantly as there will be no border checks, which are now carried out at the Bulgarian-Romanian and the Bulgarian-Greek borders.