site.btaInterior Ministers of Bulgaria, Austria Open Surveillance Zone along Bulgarian-Turkish Border
Bulgarian Minister of the Interior Daniel Mitov and his Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner opened a new border surveillance zone along the border between Bulgaria and Turkiye here on Friday. It is part of a large-scale project worth BGN 170 million, with funds provided by the European Commission (EC).
Mitov told reporters that it is important that the EC continues to support the technical equipment and full concepts of guarding the external borders of the European Union (EU), one of which is the Bulgarian-Turkish border. He added that he and Karner discussed future acts that include the implementation of the EU migration pact and return policies.
The Minister stated: "Limiting migrant pressure and preventing illegal migration is a step in the right direction. We see that the pressure on our border is decreasing. I hope that this will also be the case in the south - between North Africa and Greece, Italy, and all Member States that have external borders in general."
According to Mitov, the next step should be introducing a solid policy on returning migrants who have entered the EU illegally.
Karner praised Bulgaria's efforts to protect the border and the good interaction between the Bulgarian and Turkish border authorities. He said that in the last two years, there has been an exceptional drop in the number of attempts to cross this external EU border – from 2,000 per day to around 60. He reported that the border today is better protected both in terms of staff and equipment thanks to pressure that Austria exerted on the EC to better fund the safety of the border.
By the end of 2026, a new border surveillance zone with 250 cameras is expected to cover the 100 km of the border not yet protected by video surveillance, the head of the General Directorate Border Police, Anton Zlatanov said. “Our goal is to have a fully 100% smart border by the end of 2026 and to make it one of the best protected and policed borders of the European Union,” he added.
Zlatanov reported that a new challenge has come with the hotter weather, as the number of illegal migrants suffering from dehydration has been going up. He reported: "The first thing we do is save their lives."
/IV/
Additional
news.modal.image.header
news.modal.image.text
news.modal.download.header
news.modal.download.text
news.modal.header
news.modal.text