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There are more and more rumors about the full reopening of the Kapshtica border station, on the Greek-Albanian border, which has not been operational since November 20, as part of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
It is the only point on the border between the two countries that has direct access to the international highway Egnatia and serves all of Northern and Central Greece, with almost 2 million crossings each year.
But the suspension of this port of entry has brought difficulties in trade and exports mainly in northern Greece, as anyone leaving the country can then enter only at two points, through the border stations of Kakavija or Evzon.
Greek public channel report suggests that the Exporters’ Association of Northern Greece (SEBE) in a letter to the competent ministries requests the reopening of this point, emphasizing that in addition to delays in business plans and cancellations of orders, there is a significant increase in transport costs, deadlines and consequently reducing the competitiveness of the country’s export companies.
Similar requests were made by the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce last November, but also by the prefecture of Western Macedonia and the regional units of Florina and Kostur.
The issue is described as “critical to the economy of northern and central Greece”, as Greece’s exports to Albania, 572 million euros, are about 5 times higher than imports, 128 million euros.
Another important problem that has arisen is the difficulty for the entry of seasonal land workers from Albania, for agricultural work in the Greek suburbs of Western and Central Macedonia and Thessaly, given the lack of transport links between areas and border points such as on the Greek side as well as on the Albanian side.
Farmers’ representatives from these areas demand that the customs be reopened and that citizens be allowed to enter the country, in order to provide the much-needed labor for Greek agriculture. The full reopening, they say, must be done with the conditions that apply to other border crossings, so it requires the deployment of a special group of medical personnel who will perform the necessary tests for coronavirus.
The opening of Kapshtica is estimated to facilitate the large number of people at the other two points of the Greek land border.
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