Hefty snowfalls in northern Greece cause problems at Bulgarian border
Substantial snowfalls in parts of northern Greece on January 19 caused problems at the border with Bulgaria, with some checkpoints closed to lorries.
The Greek regions of Central Macedonia, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace were subject to a “code orange” dangerous weather warning on January 19 because of snow and ice.
For two hours until noon, the Bulgarian-Greek border checkpoint at Promachonas was closed to lorries.
Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry said that cars were being admitted through the Ilinden – Exochi checkpoints only if they had chains fitted to their tyres. Lorries were not being allowed through this border checkpoint.
Bulgarian Border Police said that they had been informed by the Greek authorities that because of heavy snowfalls, roads in Serres, Kilkis, Thessaloniki and Drama were closed to trucks.
The Kulata border checkpoint was operating normally and all categories of vehicles were allowed through. However, on the Greek side, lorries were being stopped to allow clearing of snow from the roads.
Separately, Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry said on January 19 that at the Batrovci border crossing between Serbia and Croatia, lorries were waiting an average of 13 hours to cross into Croatia territory, while at the Tovarnik – Sid point, crossing took about three hours.
At the border between Serbia and Hungary, it was taking goods vehicles about four hours to get across the Kelebija checkpoint.
The delays at the frontiers were the result of strengthened border and customs checks as well as the accumulation of snow on the territory of Croatia, Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry said.
(Photo: Michael Hornak)
/Panorama
