Easter Monday in Bulgaria: Tradition and Family Visits
Orthodox Easter Monday is the day following Easter Sunday and is observed across Bulgaria as part of the wider Easter celebration within the Orthodox Christian tradition
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Greece's Ambassador to Bulgaria has been informed by the country's Transport Ministry of its concerns over the situation at the common border, officials say.
Sofia is now calling on Athens to secure a passage for transit trucks, with Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov having spoken to Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras over the phone and urging him to "take measures".
This comes amid protests of Greek farmers over planned reforms to pensions legislation and to the distribution of subsidies which are to be suspended for a number of farmers.
By Tuesday morning, a 15-km-long queue was formed on the Bulgarian side of the border at the Kulata crossing. As of Tuesday evening, some trucks have been waiting for 28 hours.
"Strikes are strikes; however, domestic affairs [in Greece] should not violate [EU] freedom of movement," Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov has told journalists.
The Bulgarian Road Infrastucture Agency (RIA) has issued a statement advising drivers who are to travel to Greece in the coming days to plan their route "carefully", due to the blockade at Kulata-Promachon border crossing and the intermittent blockades set up elsewhere along the border. RIA has secured 12 chemical toilets at the abovementioned crossing to meet the needs of waiting drivers.
Blockades have been staged elsewhere along the border over the past few hours, with protesters at Ilinden-Exochi observing previously declared hours of the blockade. The current blockade, which began at 17:00, is due to continue until 22:00 local time (EET).
At the Makaza pass, Bulgarian-plated vehicles are not being let into and out of Greece at the moment, Bulgarian media report.
It is Kulata, however, where vehicles are facing the biggest problem, with farmers not abiding by the notices they are giving to the police beforehand on the timing of blockades. The latter detail has been communicated to H.E. Dimosthenis Stoidis, who has said the problem would not be solved before February 04 when a general strike has been scheduled.
Cars and trucks carrying medicine both ways are granted passage by the farmers through all checkpoints.
But Transit trucks carrying other goods are severely affected, with drivers, and also employer unions, complaining of substantial losses incurred, estimated at BGN 0.35 M a day according to a businesses representative.
The Bulgarian National Television reports that tour operators have canceled a number of travels to Greece.
Turkish authorities have launched a full-scale investigation after a shooting outside a building hosting the Israeli consulate in Istanbul left two attackers dead, one wounded, and several police officers injured
Fares for the Bucharest metro system are set to increase by 40 percent starting May 1, according to a draft regulation published by Romania’s Ministry of Transport and reported by Agerpres.
The United States is expanding shipments of liquefied natural gas to Southeast Europe and Ukraine via Greece, according to remarks by the US Ambassador to Athens, Kimberly Guilfoyle
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has formally requested that the immunity of 11 Greek members of parliament be lifted as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged misuse of EU agricultural subsidies
Greece has raised its minimum monthly wage to 920 euros as of today, marking an increase from the previous level of 882 euros, according to official information
Former Foreign Minister of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, has said that the current political trajectory in Skopje is the result of a broader balance of external and internal factors, including what he described as influence from anti-European forces and
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