Sofia, Jan 06 (BTA/GNA) – Over 160,000 illegal migrants were prevented from entering Bulgaria in 2022, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said in Parliament on FRiday, answering a question on a Trilateral Bulgaria-Greece-Turkey contact centre at the Kapitan Andreevo border checkpoint, South Bulgaria.
He added that while in 2015-2016, with much fewer attempts to enter the country, over 20,000 migrants passed through Bulgarian territory, in 2022, a year with many times more attempts, nearly 14,000 have passed through the country.
The minister assured that in the coming months the results of the fight against illegal migration will continue to improve.
Demerdzhiev pointed out that the trilateral contact centre was established in 2016 and operates on a 24-hour basis, seven days a week. The main areas of joint activity are border security and countering irregular migration.
The Bulgarian Interior Ministry is preparing a large-scale action against migrant trafficking in cooperation with Turkiye, explained Demerdzhiev, speaking in Parliament on Thursday. “The traffickers operate mainly from Turkish territory, the cash flows serving this illegal activity are concentrated there,” Demerdzhiev said.
He noted that in the course of preparing for the raid they had also found evidence concerning the case in which a police officer was detained transporting migrants in a van. “I find it satisfactory that my colleagues, seeing his service card, did not hesitate to handcuff him, detain him and bring him to justice by handing him over to the prosecution authorities. His superiors did not hesitate to suspend him and initiate disciplinary proceedings,” Demerdzhiev said.
Referring to the information requested by the Bulgarian Interior Ministry from the Russian Interior Ministry regarding investigative journalist Hristo Grozev, who was declared wanted by Russia, Demerdzhiev said that the information had not yet been received.
BTA/GNA