site.btaInterior Minister Radev Inspects Border with Turkey in Area of Sredets, Malko Turnovo

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Interior Minister Radev
Inspects Border with Turkey
in Area of Sredets, Malko Turnovo


Sofia, June 5 (BTA) - Bulgarian Interior Minister Valentin Radev on Sunday inspected Bulgaria's border with Turkey in the area of Sredets and the Malko Turnovo Checkpoint, which is one of the border sectors attacked by illegal migrants, Radev's Ministry said in a press release.

The surprise check was prompted by a road accident in which a van carrying 17 illegal migrants from Afghanistan and Pakistan, trafficked through Bulgaria en route to other European countries, crashed in a roadside tree near Pazardjik early Sunday morning, killing nine migrants and the driver (a 16-year-old Bulgarian national with a criminal record and no driving licence) and injuring eight.

Another reason for the inspection was Socialist MP Elena Yoncheva's presumption that, due to corruption, one sector of the fence along the Bulgarian-Turkish border was single-mesh rather than double-mesh.

At the border, Radev asked to be briefed on the interaction between officers of the Border Police and the Army and personally checked how the joint teams perform.

The Interior Minister was shown sections where illegal migrants have tried to negotiate the double-mesh fence by cutting through the wire. The Border Police officers raised the need of an urgent reactivation of the integrated border monitoring system. Radev pledged to see this done with the least delay, the press release says. LI/LG

/СН/