At the Oryahovo-Beket border (Bulgaria-Romania), dozens of trucks for international transportation headed to Austria were stopped. Among them are several Greek ships with goods bound for Austria, which are blocked for a few days at the border with Bulgaria, awaiting inspection of goods and documents, Greek media reported, quoted by Rador Radio Romania.

Such an unexpected development of events with dramatic consequences – delivery delays for several days, inconvenience for drivers, etc. – this is related to Bulgaria’s entry into the Schengen zone and the commitments it has made to other countries regarding the control of vehicles and citizens.

In addition, Austria requires strict control from Bulgaria and Romania, for which the customs authorities of the two countries were caught off guard.

Greek drivers were also outraged by the fact that there was no information about the possibility of delays in the entry of Greek trucks to Bulgaria via Promakhonas, according to the Association of International Transport of Public Use Truck Owners of Pieria District “AKROPOLIS”. .

• On the same topic: Austria continues to oppose Romania’s accession to Schengen with land borders. Karner: Now that would be a mistake. It is not for Austria to make a calendar

The Akropolis press release states:

“Since the morning of Saturday 13/01/2024, we are facing an unprecedented and unprecedented situation on the Oryahovo-Beket (Bulgaria-Romania) border. Greek trucks with goods from Greece bound for Austria, as well as Hungarian, Romanian, Czech, Austrian and Turkish trucks for international transport, also bound for Austria, are stored at the parking lot of Oryakhivska Customs. Their movement permit and goods documents have been revoked, so they can neither enter the territory of Romania to continue their journey, nor return to Greece.

The Bulgarian authorities replied that they were having problems with the goods going to Austria and needed an answer from Sofia to unlock the vehicles. When they entered the Greek-Bulgarian border in the area of ​​Promakhonas – Kulata, there was no information either from the Greek police or, of course, from the Bulgarian police to turn around and choose another route (through third countries). They let go normally, pay duty all the way to Bulgaria to block Oryahovo at the customs!

After talking with the police in Oryahovo, we were informed that there are no problems with the permits of international carriers or with the documents for the goods. The problem is with their customs. Today, Monday, January 15, 2024, the police informed the drivers that vehicles loaded with goods will remain idle for 7 days and only then will they be released.

This whole situation has arisen because of Austria’s veto against the integration of Bulgaria and Romania into Schengen, and they are doing it as a countermeasure to this action!

But who am I punishing with this act? None other than the Greek driver, the Greek transporter and their customers, as well as all the Greek exporters whose goods remain blocked and will be delivered with a long delay, with all that this means both for the proper execution of international transport and for trade. agreements between exporters and their Austrian customers.

We urge you to take all the necessary steps as soon as possible to unlock the Greek trucks that are kept there illegally and for political purposes, and to inform the Minister of Transport, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the police in Promahonas to inform their drivers when they enter the country, and that all international carriers in the country have been informed of the situation there in order to avoid transit through Romania and Bulgaria to Austria.

A similar problem also exists when the sender is Austria and the destination is Greece,” the press release of the Association of International Transportation of Public Use Truck Owners of the Pieria District “AKROPOLIS” also states.

What does Bulgaria mean?

For its part, Bulgaria, without mentioning the delays in question and the problem created for the trucks, says that the customs authorities have “reinforced border controls in order to fulfill their obligations to Austria regarding the accession to Schengen”.

It is also noted that “in total, over 7,200 inspections of various types of vehicles, including those transiting through the country, were carried out in six days of the year.

All methods of customs control are used – physical examination, scanning with X-ray systems, document verification. Both transported goods and cabins of trailers, cars, light trucks and buses are controlled.

During inspections for six days of the year, almost 120,000 cigarettes and 5.5 kg of tobacco, more than 340 liters of alcohol, 800 liters of motor oil, and 1.5 thousand kg of washing powder were seized due to violations of customs and tax legislation. underwear, 5,429 electrical tools, 10,500 children’s toys and 110 perfumes were found. All goods listed were intercepted while trying to enter the country or while in transit to Western Europe,” Bulgarian authorities claim, troxoikaitir.gr reports. (Rador Radio Romania takeover)

On the same topic:

• Why Romania’s partial accession to Schengen would be a trap and could undermine negotiations – MEP / What forced Vienna to radically change its rhetoric
• Predaiu avoids specifying a time frame for Romania’s full accession to Schengen and insists on the importance of partial accession: We have the status of a member state / We must change all the seals at the border
• Beyond optimistic statements: how much is Romania losing by standing in line at the Schengen land border / A realistic date for full integration into the free movement zone