The Bulgarian-Greek border at Rudozem is still closed to cars, even though Bulgaria is a full member of the EU and the Schengen Area. On April 18, hundreds of people from Rudozem and the Smolyan region protested in an event organised by Todor Batkov, according to a report provided by Fakti Bulgaria.
A participant in the protest, Kostadin Kostadinov, shared photos from this border point on social networks, showing concrete barriers and metal grilles on the Greek side, which were placed to stop the passage of the vehicles.
“In their desperation to stop the Bulgarians, the Greeks have put up concrete barriers and doubled them with a metal grille. Well, they didn’t stop us. We jumped over them and entered Greece,” Kostadin Kostadinov, a participant in the protest.
Based on the information, the Greek police officers who reached this scene didn’t even check the documents of the Bulgarians, after, in line with the Schengen rules, nationals have the right to cross the border on foot.
Schengen Rule is Being Violated
Kostadinov asked why another Schengen rule is being violated, the crossing of the border by cars on the road.
The problem with the Bulgarian-Greek border at Rudozem has been persistent for some time.
The White Sea Pass has been closed for 81 years, even though the Hellenic Republic promised to open it in 1996. In return, Bulgaria gave Greece access to the Mesta River waters, however, the Greeks’ side obligation has remained unfulfilled for almost 30 years.
“Next week, I will once again ask the government to put pressure on Greece to open the road it illegally closed,” Kostadinov said.
Kostadinov said that the Hellenic Republic illegally erected a concrete wall between Greece and Bulgaria, and he considers it a miniature copy of the Berlin Wall.
“If the Greeks are doing it so they can trade with Bulgaria and blackmail us for the waters of the Arda River, the big problem is why the Bulgarian government tolerates the violation of another Schengen rule – to freely cross the border with cars on the roads?” Kostadin Kostadinov
He said that the issue had not even been raised before the European Commission.
