Border Police Chief: Incidents of Non-Compliance Among Migrant Traffickers on the Rise

The Director of DG Border Police, Chief Commissioner Anton Zlatanov, commented in the studio of "The Day Begins" the crash with migrants in Burgas region.

Six Migrants Die After Car Plunges Into Lake Vaya Following Police Chase in Burgas

The Director of Bulgaria’s General Directorate of Border Police, Chief Commissioner Anton Zlatanov, commented on the fatal crash involving migrants near Burgas last night. During an interview on “The Day Begins” programme on Bulgarian National Television on November 7, he said:

“Six migrants have died. There were ten people in the vehicle. In recent months, despite the reduced migrant pressure and the measures we’ve introduced, traffickers have become more aggressive because they can no longer make money as easily as before. We’ve had several cases of non-compliance lately. The previous one was on Wednesday night at the Novo Selo border crossing near the Bulgarian-Greek border, where officers again had to use spike strips after the driver ignored two stop signals and even tried to run them over,” Zlatanov said.

He explained that last night’s chase lasted 34 minutes. It began around 9:20 p.m. when officers near Kiten spotted the speeding car, which they found suspicious for that time of night. When they signalled for it to stop, the driver ignored the order, putting officers’ lives at risk.

“In such cases, especially after the tragic incident in Burgas a few years ago, where officers were killed in the line of duty, we immediately activate Procedure 27 — an internal Interior Ministry protocol. It ensures that all police teams, regardless of their unit, switch to a single radio frequency and coordinate their actions in real time. We’ve trained for this many times — both in simulation and, unfortunately, in real-life situations,” Zlatanov said.

He added that the Romanian driver lost control of the vehicle after seeing the police teams setting up spike strips and crashed on his own.

“There were three refusals to stop at three checkpoints, with spikes at the last two. At the first — the entrance to Burgas — officers couldn’t deploy the spikes because the driver cleverly drove extremely close to the car in front, a Bulgarian vehicle with citizens who are unharmed. He even bumped them lightly from behind. He clearly knew we would use spikes, which made our colleagues’ job even harder. They had to protect their own lives and those of other road users. At the next checkpoint, colleagues from both the Burgas Regional Police Directorate and Border Police managed to react and coordinate very quickly,” he explained.

The driver and the three surviving migrants were rescued from Lake Vaya by emergency teams and are being treated in the General Hospital in Burgas.

Chief Commissioner Zlatanov also outlined ongoing reforms in the Border Police:

“We have redeployed a significant number of positions from the Bulgarian-Greek border to the external borders with Turkey and North Macedonia. Nearly half of the officers from the Greek border are now rotating between duties and assignments along the Turkish frontier. This will continue until all 1,200 new Border Police recruits, recently approved, are in post. The first 400 are finishing training in Pazardzhik — they will take their oath next Friday and start duty the following day. Another 400 will join them in January.”