PM Borissov: Currently, migration pressure on the Bulgarian border is zero

More than 70,000 people have left their homes in northeastern Syria, driven by Turkish air strikes against local Kurdish forces, the UN said. Currently, there is no increased migration pressure on Bulgaria. Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Deputy Prime Minister Krasimir Karakachanov said on October 11, commenting on the Turkish president's threat to open the border to more than 3 million refugees. The PM said that the most important now is the compliance with the agreement between the EU and Turkey on the readmission of migrants.

The migration pressure along the Bulgarian-Turkish and Bulgarian-Greek borders is zero, Bulgaria’s PM said.

He noted that Bulgarian-Turkish relations had always been excellent and neighbourly.

“Our relations with Turkey are good-neighbourly. Many times, when Europe has strongly opposed Erdogan, I was the only one to go there. One person crossed into Bulgaria from Turkey yesterday, they, the Turksish authorities, took him back, and today the migrant pressure is zero," the PM added.

"We have taken all precautions," Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Krassimir Karakachanov said. “If it is necessary to react within the space of two hours, more than 2,000 service persons can be deployed at the border within 20 hours. At this point, there is no movement there. At this stage there is no reason to worry," he added.

Borissov said that what matters most is that the EU-Turkey agreement should be observed. "Whatever measures are taken, if 50,000-100,000 migrants come to the fence along Bulgaria's border with Turkey, neither me nor Karakachanov will order the army and the police to open fire. They might bring the fence down and cross. So far, however, the pressure on the Bulgarian border is zero, which is why we insist that the agreement should be observed," Borissov said.

Boyko Borissov, Prime Minister: We have taken all the measures that need to be taken, but the most important is diplomacy.

The European Union's response to Turkey's military operation in northern Syria is that it must be stopped. European Council President Donald Tusk said the operation would only make matters worse and may cause more instability in the region and threaten the progress of the global coalition against the Islamic State.

Donald Tusk, President of the European Council: Turkey must understand that our main concern is that their actions may lead to another humanitarian catastrophe, which would be unacceptable. Nor will we ever accept that refugees are weaponised and used to blackmail us. That is why I consider yesterday’s threats made by President Erdogan totally out of place.

According to the Secretary of State for European Affairs of France, ministers will also discuss possible sanctions against Turkey, but the European Commission has not confirmed the information. Brussels says Turkey remains Europe's main partner in stopping migrants.

The European Union and Turkey signed an agreement in 2016, aimed at stopping the flow of irregular migration via Turkey to Europe, for which it receives billions of euros from Brussels.

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