Residents of the village of Chepintsi are organizing a protest today at 10:00 am in the area of the non-operational border checkpoint Rudozem–Xanthi on the Bulgaria-Greece border, said the mayor of the Rhodope village, Riza Brahimbashev. People are protesting against the new barriers that even block pedestrian access to Greek territory. The protesters are demanding answers from the official institutions about when the cross-border route to Greece will be reopened.

The new metal fences near the non-operational border checkpoint were installed by the Greek authorities last week, and information signs in Greek explain that the area is a construction site.