On the first day of Bulgaria's membership in the Schengen area, the Rudozem - Xanthi border checkpoint remains closed to traffic. A metal fence, located about a kilometer before the checkpoint, blocks vehicle access to the facility.
Since the early hours of January 1, 2025, dozens of cars headed to the checkpoint in the hope of freely crossing the Bulgarian-Greek border. Patrols of the "Border Police" and the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - Smolyan stop and warn travelers that the road is closed, BTA writes.
"I'm just coming to look, to see what the situation is, we came to Rome, we also have to see the Pope, i.e. Greece", says Nikolay Georgiev, a taxi driver, with a smile.
Although the route from Dimario to the border is asphalted, finishing work is still ahead on installing guardrails and road markings. The Regional Governor of Smolyan, Zahari Sirakov, explained that the traffic restriction is aimed at preventing accidents, since the road is a construction site.
The building and infrastructure of the "Rudozem-Xanthi" border checkpoint were completed at the end of 2021, but the opening of the checkpoint is postponed due to a delay in the construction of the road on the Greek side. Maintaining the facility's security over the years has cost the state hundreds of thousands of leva.
Local residents express disappointment at yet another delay. "They have been lying to us for years and are always justifying themselves to the Greeks. Now they have let us into Schengen, but we still can't get there", says Fahri from the village of Chepintsi.
Despite the closed road, expectations for economic development in the region are high. The mayor of Rudozem Municipality, Nedko Kulevski, reports a 50 percent increase in property prices in the area and increased investor interest over the past two years.