Bulgaria tries to stem migrant flows
Bulgaria sent 350 troops to its border with Turkey Monday to support police due to growing pressure of migrant flows, Defense Minister Georgi Panayotov said.
“From today, Monday, soldiers at the Bulgarian-Turkish border will support the border police. 350 people have been sent along with about 40 units of equipment, he said in an interview with bTV.
More than 6,500 people who entered the country illegally, mostly Afghans, were arrested in Bulgaria from January to September, more than three times the number in 2020, according to the Interior Ministry.
Bulgaria is on the route of migrants and refugees who want to reach Europe. A barbed wire, damaged in many places, covers the 259-km long Bulgarian-Turkish border.
Parliament had decided in August to send 400 to 700 troops to Bulgaria’s borders with Turkey and Greece to help build fences.
The poorest EU member, Bulgaria has never accepted large numbers of asylum seekers, most of whom leave the country before even receiving an answer about their refugee status.
[Kathimerini/AMNA]
