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Greek farmers worry about crops drying up as Bulgaria water deal expires

By Karolina Tagaris

KASTANIES, Greece (Reuters) - On an unusually balmy January day, Dimitris Marinoglou ploughed his field in northern Greece fearing the worst: that water supplies from neighbouring Bulgaria that have kept his family's crops alive for decades will dry up come summer.

Since 1964, water from Bulgaria's mountains has flowed freely along the Arda River into 50,000 acres (20,000 hectares) of the Evros plain in Greece, under a World War Two reparations agreement between the two countries.

But the deal expired last July and it is not clear if it will be renewed as Bulgaria assesses its own water needs.