40% increase in migrant pressure since the beginning of the year reported by the Ministry of Interior

There is more than 40% increase in migrant pressure since the beginning of the year compared to the same period last year. This became clear during the annual analysis of DG "Border Police".

More than 168,000 attempts for illegal enetry in the country were prevented last year. It is possible that some of the persons, who returned to the interior of neighbouring countries, after having spotted the presence of Bulgarian patrols and posts along the state border, made more than one attempt to cross into the territory of Bulgaria, the Border Police said.

The Bulgarian border authorities have detained 2,298 third-country nationals at entry at external and internal borders, which shows an increase of 66% compared to the previous year.

1,915 persons were detained for illegal entry outside the border crossing points and 383 persons at border crossing points.

Most of those detained for violating the state border were citizens of Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Morocco, etc.

At the border crossing points, 12,008 persons and 160 vehicles circulated as wanted were identifeid.

The pre-trial proceedings initiated for offences under Article 280 and Article 281 of the Criminal Code were by 78% more in comparison with the ones in 2021. Charges were pressed against 341 persons. Of the persons detained for smuggling activities, 191 were arrested at the Bulgarian-Turkish border, 94 at the Bulgarian-Serbian border, 40 at the Bulgarian-Romanian border, 11 at the Bulgarian-Greek border, 3 at the air border and 2 at the border with the Republic of North Macedonia, the Ministry of Interior said.

In 2022, 979,776 Ukrainian citizens entered Bulgaria, 926,514 Ukrainian citizens left.

As a result of well-planned and targeted work by Border Police officers, the activities of a criminal group that recruited, solicited and sexually exploited women were uncovered.

During the analysis of the activities of the DG Border Police, caretaker Minister of Interior Ivan Demerdzhiev pointed out that 1260 more border police officers are to be appointed, the assistance of the Ministry of Defence will continue, as well as the maintenance of constant communication with the Turkish side.

Demerdzhiev confirmed the assurance of assistance from the European Commission for the material provision of 110 km of the Bulgarian-Turkish border - in the field of ground and air surveillance, as well as for the acquisition of new vehicles.

"We will be uncompromising towards the involvement of officials in illegal activities, but in everything else you have my full support, all available resources of the state will be harnessed to the needs of border security," the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior was quoted as saying by the Ministry of Interior press office.

According to the Secretary General of the Ministry of Interior, it is imperative to improve communication with the other services of the Ministry and to carry out a faster exchange of operational information between the units on duty. "We will support the political leadership for your better material support, because we appreciate the efforts you make on a daily, hourly basis at the border," said Chief Commissioner Todorov.