Ilinden-Exochi border crossing
The border crossing Ilinden Exochi ( Bulgarian ГКПП Илинден - Ексохи - GKPP Ilinden - granite's Kontrolno Propuskwatelen point Ilinden - Cross-control passage point Ilinden; Greek Συνοριακή Διόδος Εξοχή - Ιλινδεν Synoriakí diodos Exochi - Ilinden or Σταθμός Εξοχή - Ιλινδεν Stathmós Exochi - Ilinden ), also called GKPP Goze Deltschew-Drama , lies between Bulgaria and Greece . It is located in the western Rhodope Mountains , near the Bulgarian village Ilinden , approx. 20 km south of the town of Goze Deltschew .
The Ilinden-Exochi border crossing was opened on December 9, 2005 by the Bulgarian ministers Asen Gagausow and Petar Mutaftschiew and the head of the European Commission delegation in Bulgaria, Dimitris Kourkulas, as well as politicians from the neighboring regions. At that time it was the third border crossing between Bulgaria and Greece. The border crossing was a requirement of the local societies on both sides of the border and should contribute to tourism and the strengthening of the local economy. It promotes tourism in the border region.
history
In 1995 a Bulgarian-Greek agreement was signed to open three more border crossings. At that time only the two border crossings Kulata-Promachonas and Kapitan Petko Wojwoda-Ormenio existed on the Greek-Bulgarian border. As part of the construction of the border crossing, a bypass road and a 12 km long access road with several bridges, overpasses and underpasses, several buildings and a tunnel were built. The project was co-financed by the PHARE program with a total of around 18 million euros (9 for the road construction, 5 for the border crossing and 4 for the tunnel) .
Construction work at the border crossing ended in 2002 and the road infrastructure in 2003. To protect the species of the local brown bear population after protests by several nature conservation organizations, including the WWF , a tunnel with a length of 447 m (147 on the Bulgarian side, the rest on the Greek side) and an access road were built to the tunnel built in a length of 420 m.
In 2010, the Greek side blocked the border crossing several times by striking farmers.
Individual evidence
Web links
- After ten years of construction, the Ilinden-Eksohi border crossing was finally opened , www.mediapool.bg, December 9, 2005
Coordinates: 41 ° 26 ′ 14.4 " N , 23 ° 49 ′ 35.8" E