Bulgarian truckers have lifted their two-day blockade of the country’s
border with Turkey - a key trade route between the Middle East and
central Europe, the interior ministry said Saturday.
The
passage of trucks through the southeastern Kapitan Andreevo and Lesovo
border checkpoints was reopened late Friday, the ministry said in a
statement.
Traffic remained backed up on Saturday, due to the long lines that had formed over the two days of blockade.
The ministry said there was a five-kilometer (three-mile) queue of
trucks waiting to cross over at Kapitan Andreevo while at Lesovo the
line stretched to about three kilometers.
Angry Bulgarian
truckers began blockading the two out of three crossings on the shared
259 kilometer (160 mile) border between the two countries on Thursday to
protest against lengthy customs procedures and other restrictions by
the Turkish authorities.
Bulgaria’s government intervened,
filing a complaint with the European Commission on Thursday and
threatening reciprocal measures against Turkish trucks passing into
Bulgaria.
Tensions ran high Friday evening, prompting the deployment of about 200 gendarmes at Kapitan Andreevo to prevent clashes.
Transport Minister Kristian Krastev, who travelled to the checkpoint
late Friday, convinced the drivers to unblock traffic following an
agreement with the Turkish side that the restrictions will be lifted.
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