Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

193,000 illegal migrants have been apprehended or turned back in 2023

Photo: BTA

As of the end of November, the Bulgarian police at the country’s borders had checked more than 176,000 attempts by migrants to enter the EU illegally, a 13% increase compared to November 2022, the Interior Ministry has announced.  A 35% seasonal decline of the registered attempts at illegal crossings was registered in November. The people stopped at the border withdrew to the territory of neighbouring countries. The situation worst was at the Bulgaria-Turkey border, where 99% of the migrant stream is concentrated. 175,000 is the number of attempts to cross the Bulgarian-Turkish border, the rest are along the Bulgarian-Greek border. There, the decline in the number of attempts is by 86% compared to 2022. After notification by Bulgarian patrols, the border authorities in neighbouring countries apprehended 616 migrants. 17,186 illegal migrants have been captured in Bulgaria since the beginning of 2023. 



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

Ivelin Mihaylov

Bulgaria’s Anti-Corruption Commission probes 'Velichie' party in major property fraud case

Bulgaria’s Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating a large-scale property fraud and money laundering scheme connected to the 'Historical Park', which is associated with Ivelin Mihaylov, the leader of the Velichie party. Those arrested include the..

published on 11/26/25 2:30 PM
Boyko Borissov

Borissov cites EU defence adjustment to claim a 2026 deficit of 2.7%

The ruling party and the opposition argued about the procedure for the Budget Committee meeting before the final vote on the 2006 budget .  Assen Vassilev, chairman of the We Continue the Change party, attempted to block the committee’s extraordinary..

published on 11/26/25 2:15 PM

Agriculture and forestry workers protest for higher salaries

Employees in the agriculture and forestry sector staged a protest in front of the Parliament, demanding higher salaries for workers in departments that are secondary budget administrators. The protest was organized by the National Federation of..

published on 11/26/25 12:34 PM