Greece is poised for another general 24-hour strike on May 20 which will cause serious obstructions to transport with Bulgaria. Consequently, the Bulgarian State Rail Company (BDZ) said it will reschedule six international trains, a company media statement said on May 19 2010.

The international train from Bucharest bound for Thessaloníki via Sofia on May 19 will stop in Sofia. The following day, the morning of May 20, the same train, which is originally poised to travel from Thessaloníki to Bucharest, will depart for the Romanian capital from Sofia central station.

Meanwhile, trains on May 19 departing from Sofia to Athens, will stop in Thessaloníki. The following day, the service from Athens to Sofia will only be served from Thessaloníki, the report said.

Finally, four international trains, two in the morning and two in the afternoon on May 20 between Sofia and Thessaloníki, will be cancelled.

"All passengers who lost their tickets for the international trains will be reimbursed by BDZ," the statement said. Passengers will be able to receive their money back in full or reschedule for another date.

The new 24 hour strikes are set to take place in protest against Greece's acceptance of the first batch of a 110 billion euro loan to help it overcome its debt crisis. The European Union economic and monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said that the beleaguered state is poised to receive 20 billion euro on May 18.

The 20 billion injection is only a fraction of the 110 billion in total which will be given to Greece by the EU and the International Monetary Fund, in a deal which was agreed amid widespread public opposition, riots and chaos in the Greek capital Athens.

The rescue package for Athens was agreed earlier in May, as the Greek parliament approved tough new austerity measures to help curb its soaring debt and deficit as thousands of people demonstrated in Athens.

Because of the turmoil in the Balkan state, the European single currency fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 2006, amid concerns that debt problems will undermine Europe's recovery from the global economic crunch.