Bulgaria Protests Rude Treatment of Volleyball Fans by Greece
Diplomacy | January 12, 2012, Thursday // 20:56| views
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Vesela Cherneva, photo by BGNES
Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry has announced that it will send a note of protest over a serious incident involving Bulgarian citizens on the Bulgarian-Greek border.
Bulgarian citizens with no aggressive intentions had not been allowed to see a volleyball match in Thessalon?ki and had been escorted out of the country, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Vesela Cherneva announced on Thursday.
In its Thursday statement, the Foreign Ministry's press office strongly condemned the obstructed entry of the group of Bulgarian citizens in Greece.
Some 80 Bulgarian citizens, therefore EU citizens, who had been traveling on two buses, had been exercising their right to stay in Greece, the Foreign Ministry stated.
The Foreign Ministry further noted that it had received a tip-off that violence had been used against the Bulgarian nationals at the Promachonas border crossing point as they were being escorted out of the country.
Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry insisted that the Greek authorities provide exhaustive information about the investigation and clarify the circumstances surrounding the incident.
At 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday, the border guard on duty received a signal that two buses carrying Bulgarian fans had been stopped 10 kilometers before reaching Thessalon?ki.
The Bulgarians had come to see the volleyball match between the teams of Iraklis-CSKA that would take place in the city.
According to reports from the Greek authorities, the majority of the Bulgarian group were sports hooligans who represented a threat to the public order.
At 9 p.m., the two buses headed back for Bulgaria escorted by Greek special police forces.
Back