Bulgaria will deliver humanitarian assistance to refugees and migrants at Tabanovce transit center near Kumanovo in neighbouring  Macedonia on Thursday, the government in Sofia has said.

The aid consisting of mineral water and food supplies has been provided by the Bulgarian Red Cross and Bulgarian companies, the government press office said in a statement.

The agreement to extend assistance to the migrants and refugees in Tabanovce, at Macedonia’s border with Serbia, was reached last week in a telephone conversation between Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov. The two leaders also agreed to act jointly to bolster controls at the Bulgarian-Macedonian border and crack down on illegal channels for human trafficking.

About 1,500 refugees and migrants - women, children and men – are stuck in Tabanovce after the closing of the Western Balkans route leading from Greece, Macedonia and Serbia to Croatia and Slovenia and then north to Austria and Germany. 

Earlier this month, Bulgaria sent tents, beds, blankets and heating materials to the migrants and refugees stuck in adverse weather conditions at Idomeni, at Greece’s border with Macedonia.