Ambassador Marin Raykov with the latest information on the chaos in Great Britain – EU

Britain is mired in transport chaos due to the new strain of COVID-19. Both airports and land borders are blocked. The line before the English Channel from the British city of Dover is kilometers long. Among our blocked compatriots are families with young children, groups traveling by minibus and about 350 Bulgarian carriers.

Our Foreign Office stated that the head of our consular service in London was on site, and Ambassador Marin Raykov

Marin Raykov is the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria from March 12 to May 29 He has spoken with representatives of the transportation industry.

Nedelcho Dimitrov is taking a course to Belgium, and then he must continue to Bulgaria. However, our compatriot falls into the transportation trap in the Dover area. “I found out on the morning of the 21st, there were road signs, but there was no way to react early,” the driver told BNT.

Dozens of Bulgarians are stranded near the English port city of Dover

The truck is blocked on the road, where the traffic jam is kilometers long. Nedelcho still hopes to be able to return home for the holidays. In addition to drivers in the port city area, Bulgarian families are blocked, as well as groups traveling in vans and cars. Our compatriots are in different parking lots and our consular service has distributed food and water on the spot. At least eight babies have been stuck in the traffic jams, according to the Foreign Ministry. Gas stations, stores, I would say, and toilets don’t work. It is not possible to get back on the road.

We provide some assistance, we use what we can. After all, the embassy is not the Red Cross. We are doing what we can, “Ambassador Marin Raykov told BNT.

Marin Raykov is the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria from March 12 to May 29.

The transport industry calls for urgent measures. “On the eve of Brexit, they could have built a corridor in which heavy traffic would not be affected,” said Nikolai Rashkov of the Union of International Carriers.

According to the union, about 350 Bulgarian drivers are blocked at the border. About 60 are in the queue and the rest are weaned in intermediate parking lots. The accumulated delay is on average between 38 and 48 hours.

Important message from our embassy in London after the emergency

The embassy said the situation was difficult and expectations that there would be a solution to the transport blockade tonight were not justified.

“My advice is that anyone who has no reason to travel and can postpone their trip, do not look for a solution at the airport, because this solution cannot be reached,” Ambassador Raykov said.

In this context, the Minister of the Interior and the Director of the Border Police checked Kalotina’s organization in search of trucks arriving from the island. “This organization is not something new for us. We did it for the first time in spring and in much larger volumes. The colleagues have the experience and the routine and we hope that there will not be serious difficulties,” said the Interior Minister.

The last order of the Ministry of Health of December 21 does not foresee a mandatory 10-day quarantine for truckers who transit through the country or carry out loading and unloading activities.