Greek Strike Strands Lorries Across Balkans

23 September 2008 Tirana _ Hundreds of lorries remained stuck in long queues along the northern Greek border with Albania, and Bulgaria as customs officials continued an open-ended strike.
The strike forced the near-closure of all border stations, ports and airports throughout the country.
The strike, which began on Monday in protest against the government’s plans for severe salary cutbacks for civil servants, also caused serious disruptions in food and fuel supplies for neighbouring countries.
Union officials said customs will operate with only skeleton staffing, who will only carry out inspections of imports and exports of perishable food items and items of national importance such as military supplies, medicine and fuel for hospitals.
Widespread fuel shortages due to the ongoing strike are looking increasingly likely.
Motorists could be seen queuing on Tuesday outside petrol stations for hours in the northern port city of Thessaloniki.