Greek truck drivers continue border crossing, port blockades

Athens - Greek truck drivers continued Saturday to block key ports and border crossings across Greece, demanding that authorities increase inspections on foreign trucks entering the country.

A key blockade was at the Promahon-Kulata crossing on the border with Bulgaria. The truckers permitted private cars and buses to pass, but stopped all lorries, state television reported.

The truckers also blocked the Evzones crossing on the border with Macedonia as well as the main port of Patras in western Greece and at Korinth.

The Bulgarian government has protested against the blockades, which Sofia says have inflicted millions of euros' worth of damage on Bulgarian shipments, which are turned over at the northern Greek port of Thessaloniki. Bulgarian truckers have been forced to make time- consuming and costly detours to try to reach Thessaloniki.

The Greek truck drivers' protest is aimed against what they say are inadequate controls on foreign trucks at Greek ports. The drivers say foreign trucks smuggle undocumented immigrants into the country. (dpa)

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