Problems With Truck Crossings At Turkish Border Resolved, Says Bulgaria

A top Bulgarian official announced on Sunday that problems causing long lines of trucks at the border with Türkiye have been resolved.

"Truck traffic returned to normal thanks to the intervention of the gendarmerie," caretaker Interior Minister Ivan Dermenciev said after inspecting the Kapitan Andreevo border gate, across from the Kapikule gate on the Turkish side.

Dermenciev noted that Bulgaria's provisional government, which took office on Aug. 2, faced problems related to truck queues at the border with Türkiye.

Under former Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, the Bulgarian government had employed a private company to conduct inspections at Kapitan Andreevo, with the firm carrying out "food health inspections" at the border for roughly 10 years.

Former Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, who resigned in July, said no real inspections were being conducted at the border crossing and that the state had suffered a loss of at least €500 million ($509 million) in 10 years.

Petkov terminated the work of the border inspection company, but a court later overturned the decision.

When state officials then began inspecting the company's work, long queues of trucks formed as they waited to cross the border for up to 26 hours. -