Sun, Nov 22 2009

FORGOTTEN NAZI-ERA TANKS ON BULGARIA'S BORDER TO BE REMOVED

Mon, Aug 20 2007 14:51 CET 1157 Views

Around 40 German World War II tanks are still situated on Bulgarian-Turkish border, but will be scrapped in the autumn of 2007.

Instead of scrapping the German tanks after World War II, the communist regime in Bulgaria used them to guard the southern border of the Warsaw Pact against the neighbouring NATO member, according to Deutsche Welle.

The tanks continued their patrol until the regime collapsed in 1989. After that, the tank positions, in towns like Sharkovo and Voden, were forgotten.

In 2004, Bulgaria itself joined NATO.

Petko Iotov, director the Museum of Military History in Sofia said that "now we have no enemy to the south."

Though Iotov expressed hope that his museum might acquire the tanks, he expects stiff competition and high prices, possibly up to 50 000 euros for one tank.

The tanks are filled with spider webs and rust, though the serial number, eagle stamp and swastikas are still visible.

The moveable parts of the tanks have long since been taken by collectors and scrap-metal dealers.

Write comment

Name:Comment:

Generate new code
Send your comment

More in this category

EC suing Bulgaria for Sofia waste disposal failure

The European Commission is taking Bulgaria to court for delays in providing Sofia with adequate waste disposal facilities.

US ambassador-designate Warlick addresses senate confirmation hearing

James Warlick is the spouse of Mary Warlick, director of the office of Russian affairs at the US state department, who has been nominated to serve as ambassador to Serbia

Bulgaria declares flu epidemic at an end

Bulgaria’s Health Ministry announced on November 20 2009 that the flu epidemic declared two weeks earlier is at an end as rates of infection decline. The announcement coincides with reports of two deaths from A (H1N1) flu in Bulgaria.

Bulgarian prosecutors to investigate Dogan’s real estate deals

Acting on allegations by Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria leader Ivan Kostov, prosecutors and Government officials are to probe deals by which Movement for Rights and Freedoms leader Ahmed Dogan acquired various properties.

Sofia prosecutors charge Bulgaria’s former defence minister Nikolai Tsonev

Prosecutors allege that a deal agreed by the former defence minister caused losses of 12.9 million leva.

© 2000-2009, Sofia Echo Media Ltd.

Web Design by RIZN

Sofia Echo Media is part of the Economedia Group.
The news and information content on this website is provided by our editorial team and is copyrighted. Any unauthorised reproduction or use of it is strictly forbidden. Reproduction of this website's content is permitted only with prior written permission from the Editor-in-Chief, should be propertly acredited and provide an active link back to our site. Comments posted by the website's visitors are independent of the editorial materials and do not represent the views of sofiaecho.com. Sofia Echo Media cannot be held responsible for the statements contained in visitor comments. The percentаge change in the shares' prices are based on the price of the last transaction of the current session compared to the price of the last transaction of the previous session. Bulgarian Stock Exchange data is not real-time, but updated every 15 minutes, and should not be used as a basis for decisions about buying or selling stock options.