Additional measures to ease border traffic flow during winter holidays

The Romanian authorities have taken additional measures to ease the traffic flow through the border crossing points during the winter holidays, when it is estimated that there will be a significant increase in the number of people in transit, in particular on the border with the Schengen area. "Given that the winter holidays are approaching, the period when the traffic through the border crossing points increases considerably, the Romanian Border Police has adapted its surveillance and control missions, as well as human and material resources, so as to ensure an efficient and operative control. To avoid congestion, measures were taken to supplement the border police personnel up to the maximum capacity allowed by the infrastructure of each crossing point, depending on the dynamics of traffic values. Thus, over 4,200 border police officers carry out, daily, during this period, surveillance and control activities at the state border," the Border Police announced, in a press release issued on Thursday. Depending on the traffic values at the border crossing points, the authorities will open additional control points. "Moreover, the authorities of the neighboring states have been contacted, in order to establish common measures, based on the bilateral protocols, so that the border control can be carried out with promptness," the press release states. As in previous years, it is estimated that the border with Hungary will be the most crowded, as there are 11 road crossing points, the largest being Nadlac II, on the pan-European motorway. Border officers recommend to those who will cross the border to use the other points to avoid crowding. In this respect, the online application which monitors the waiting times can be consulted on the Border Police website. Also, on the border with Hungary, on Saturdays and Sundays, between 10.00-18.00 (Romania time), 10 occasional border crossing points are opened, meant to facilitate the traffic of persons residing in the border localities. In December 2018, the Romanian border was crossed by about 4.6 million people, as well as by 1.2 million means of transport. Of these, about 2.5 million crossings were in the direction of entry into the country (2.1 million EU citizens and 400,000 non-EU Citizens). Through the border crossing points at the Romanian-Hungarian border, the border was crossed, in December last year, by over 1.6 million people, of whom about 600,000 people and 210,000 vehicles were registered at Nadlac II. This year, the Interior Ministry distributed, at border crossing points, about 500,000 flyers with useful information on the work schedule and how to access some public services. AGERPRES (RO - author: Marian Buga, editor: Diana Dumitru; EN - author: Simona Iacob, editor: Adina Panaitescu)