site.btaGeneral Directorate Border Police: No Powers Assigned to National Protected Areas Control Agency

No powers have been assigned to the non-governmental organization National Protected Areas Control Agency (NPACA) by the General Directorate Border Police (GDBP), the directorate reported on Wednesday. Border Police added that they have no agreements for joint activities with NPACA.

However, the GDBP added that in November 2024, while working on cutting off illegal migration near the Petrohan lodge, on the basis of Article 4 of the Ministry of Interior Act, namely "State bodies, organizations, legal entities, and citizens are obligated to cooperate with and comply with the orders of the Ministry of Interior authorities," officers from the Regional Directorate Border Police - Dragoman, while performing their duties in an attempt to stop illegal activity, were assisted in their field work by a thermal imaging surveillance drone provided by representatives of NPACA. The General Directorate Border Police said that no incidents occurred during the NPACA-provided one-time assistance.

No reports of abuse of power by the National Protected Areas Control Agency have been registered by the Regional Directorate Border Police – Dragoman. 

A report released by the Ministry of Interior specified that activities conducted by the NGO National Protected Areas Control Agency (NPACA) have triggered four alerts since the NGO was established in 2022. On February 2, 2026, the bodies of three NPACA members were found with gunshot wounds near a privately owned lodge at the Petrohan Pass. On February 8, three more bodies with gunshot wounds were found near Okolchitsa Peak.