site.btaConstruction of Protecting Obstacle along Border with Turkey to Continue, Defence Ministry to Provide Logistic Support in Border Protection

Construction of Protecting Obstacle along Border with Turkey  to Continue, Defence Ministry to Provide Logistic Support in Border Protection


Sofia, January 14 (BTA) - The Council of Ministers Wednesday
made a decision on urgent measures concerning the migration
pressure along Bulgaria's border, the government information
service said. The decision is about further construction of a
border protecting obstacle along Bulgaria's southern border, and
 about the provision of logistic support by the Defence
Ministry.

The Interior Ministry has until January 30 to prepare terms of
reference for the design of a border protecting obstacle. It is
to determine the priority sectors and the time frame for
construction.

The interior and defence ministers have until January 23 to
propose amendments and supplements to secondary legislation
which will guarantee effective interaction in border protection
and will open the way for logistic support by the Defence
Ministry in the protection and surveillance of the state border
by the Interior Ministry.

In 2014, the Defence Ministry built a 30-kilometre fence along
part of the border with Turkey.

The Agriculture and Food Ministry will continue building and
repairing the existing forest roads in the southeast of the
country.

The implementation of the decision will be controlled and
coordinated by the Deputy Prime Minister responsible for
Coordination of EU Policies and Institutional Affairs.

The Defence Ministry will provide full support to the Interior
Ministry in the protection of the border with Turkey. This
includes logistics and offroad vehicles, which can be made
available immediately, Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev told
journalists after a Council for Security meeting and the regular
 cabinet meeting.

Nenchev said: "We were asked for assistance and we promptly said
 what we can offer." The Council for Security did not discuss on
 Wednesday how the construction of the protecting obstacle on
the border with Turkey will be financed. "We heard reports on
the situation in Bulgaria and the Middle East. There really is a
 risk of a  refugee wave, but there is no evidence whatsoever of
 Bulgarians involved in Islamic State actions," said Nenchev.

The Defence Minister added: "We will propose legal amendments to
 fight terrorism more effectively."

Nenchev also said that the visit by NATO Secretary General Jens
Stoltenberg scheduled for late January shows that Bulgaria is a
reliable country.