The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) has issued a travel warning for Bulgaria, where severe weather codes orange and yellow are in effect for snow and strong winds on Saturday and Sunday.

According to the MAE, for the period of January 20-21, the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology in Bulgaria issued orange and yellow weather codes, according to which the entire territory of the country will be affected by heavy precipitation in the form of snow accompanied by strong winds.

Thus, the orange code will be for the regions of Montana, Vratsa, Sofia region, Sofia capital, Lovechi, Gabrovo, Veliko Tarnovo, Plovdiv, Kyustendil, Pernik, Blagoevgrad, Pazardzhik, Smolyan and Kirzhali (the snow layer will reach 10-30 cm, the presence of a blizzard will lead before the formation of snowdrifts and the appearance of snow);

The yellow code covers the regions of Vidin, Pleven, Tirgovishte, Ruse, Razgrad, Haskovo, Sliven, Stara Zagora, Yambol, Shumen, Burgas, Varna, Dobrich and Silistra (the snow layer will reach 10 cm, conditions for the formation of blizzards and the appearance of wet snow. Wind gusts will reach 14-19 m/s (50-69 km/h), sometimes up to 24 m/s (90 km/h).

MAE recommends Romanian citizens to carefully monitor the flight situation from Bulgarian airports or the weather forecast in Bulgaria, and drivers to have their vehicles equipped for driving on public roads in winter conditions and special weather warnings, to strictly follow the posted temporary road signs and indications/signals control bodies that are in place. During the period of weather warning codes, it is possible that some categories of roads will be closed to traffic and air flights will be disrupted due to the flight schedule, according to the decision of the competent authorities in Bulgaria.

Additional information can be obtained as follows:

– regarding the current condition of the roads: in the free LIMA application www.lima.api.bg, on the Internet page of the Agency “Road Infrastructure” – www.api.bg and by phone number 070013020, available in STIY;

– regarding the electronic vignette and the e-TOLL system: on the website www.bgtoll.bg;

– regarding the road situation through Bulgarian checkpoints: on the website www.mvr.bg;

– regarding the flight situation at Sofia airport: www.sofia-airport.eu;

– regarding the weather: on the website www.weather.bg;

– regarding the customs regime, when entering the Republic of Bulgaria from the Republic of Turkey, on the website www.mae.ro/travel-conditions/3677 (Conditions of travel in the Republic of Bulgaria, heading Customs regulations) and on the website of the Agency ” Customs” from the Republic of Bulgaria: www.customs.bg.

Citizens of Romania can seek consular assistance by calling the following telephone numbers of the Embassy of Romania in Sofia: +35929712858 and +35929733510, calls are forwarded to the Contact and Support Center for Romanian Citizens Abroad (CCSCRS) and are answered by Call Center operators on a permanent basis. . Also, citizens of Romania who find themselves in a difficult, special situation of an emergency nature have at their disposal the permanent phone number of the diplomatic mission of Romania in the Republic of Bulgaria: +359879440758.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends that you familiarize yourself with the web pages https://sofia.mae.ro, https://consular-protection.ec.europa.eu/travel-advice_en?prefLang=ro, www.meteoalarm.org, www. mae.ro and reminds that Romanian citizens traveling abroad have at their disposal the “Travel Safely” app (https://www.mae.ro/app_cs), which provides information and travel advice.