Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Humanitarian crisis in Turkey and Syria will intensify migrant pressure towards EU

Photo: BGNES

Due to the geopolitical situation, the economic and humanitarian crisis, the earthquake in Turkey and Syria and the problems in the Middle East, a new large wave of migrants to Bulgaria is expected

The Bulgarian border is guarded under extremely difficult conditions, Chief Commissioner Rositsa Dimitrova, Director of the Main Directorate "Border Police", told the Bulgarian National Television. The officers of the "Border Police" do not have all-terrain, off-road vehicles, she added. 

On the other hand, the fence along the Bulgarian-Turkish border does not serve as an obstacle to migrants, there is no equipment, and there is no video surveillance in the busiest section in the Strandzha mountain with a length of 110 km. However, border guards on the Bulgarian-Turkish border have prevented the illegal crossing of more than 164,000 people, Dimitrova explained. 

According to the director of the "Border Police", last year there were over 2,800 pre-trial proceedings for migrant smuggling and illegal migration, 2,100 of which resulted in a verdict. Of them, only 159 people are effectively imprisoned, the rest received fines or suspended sentences. That is why Dimitrova called for increased penalties to deter perpetrators. 

Among the migrant smugglers in addition to Bulgarian and Turkish citizens, there are also Syrian, Serbian, Ukrainian, Moldovan, Romanian, and Russian citizens.


At a briefing for journalists, President Rumen Radev congratulated the leadership and all employees of the Ministry of the Interior, that despite the current situation, the problematic fence on the border, the lack of means of transport and sufficient personnel, the security has been improved, and illegal migrants on the country's roads are already being hunted down and apprehended.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Patriarch Daniil conducts Archangel All Souls' Day memorial service

An Archangel All Souls' Day memorial service was conducted by Patriarch Daniil at the military ossuary museum at the central Sofia cemetery. In his message he stated that today we honour the memory of all of our soldiers: “They are an example..

published on 11/2/24 1:31 PM

Young people out of a job are mostly with a secondary school education

Almost half of the unemployed under the age of 29 in this country have secondary school education, indicate the latest data of the National Employment Agency. There are 17.350 people from this age bracket registered at the job centres –7,570 of..

published on 11/2/24 11:51 AM

PP/DB sends parliamentary forces a declaration on a cordon sanitaire around Delyan Peevski

We Continue the Change/Democratic Bulgaria (PP/DB), which came second in the 27 October parliamentary election, sent the other political forces to be represented in parliament a “Declaration for ridding the institutions and the election process of..

published on 11/2/24 11:06 AM