Some 170 Bulgarian Truck Drivers Stuck at Serbian-Croatian Border

Photo by EPA/BGNES

Around 170 Bulgarian TIR truck drivers are stuck between the Serbian and Croatian borders amid a row between the two countries over the ways to cope with the refugee influx.

The drivers are stuck in their trucks, with no food, water or access to toilets, according to reports of Bulgarian private TV station Nova TV.

Pencho Penchev, a truck driver, is waiting for a fifth day at the Serbian border.

He tried to cross the Serbian-Croatian border on Sunday but he was not allowed to pass.

"First we were stopped because we were told that there were refugees who were at the Serbian-Croatian border and that we could not cross it because of them. On the following day, we were told that there was some problem between Serbia and Croatia over permits for trucks. Today, when we asked, we were told something completely different. Everyone keeps shrugging their shoulders. We have been sitting here for five days with no water, food, or toilet," Penchev told Nova TV.

Serbian private transportation companies handed out bottles of water at their own expenses to help their colleagues.

In Penchev's words, no one can say how long they will stay at the border.

The protests of the truck drivers over the situation at the Serbian-Croatian border have so far been unsuccessful.

"We no longer know who we should turn to. There are 170 Bulgarian trucks here and the queue is 25 km long," Penchev said.

Serbia and Croatia on Thursday both closed their borders to each other's freight traffic.

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