site.btaSeven Border Police Officers Fail to Check 42 Arriving Passengers at Sofia Airport

Sofia, March 24 (BTA) - Seven border police officers have abandoned their posts and failed to check 42 arriving passengers at Sofia Airport, said the head of the Border Police Directorate, Commissioner Svetlan Kichikov, at a news conference here on Saturday. He added that a probe is underway to establish the reasons for the breach.

Kichikov explained that a Bulgaria Air flight from France had landed in Sofia on the afternoon of March 20, and some of the passengers were not checked upon arrival by the border police officers, who had gravely violated the rules by not being at their posts.

The Commissioner noted that the 42 passengers, who were supposed to undergo border checks, were later found and checked, adding that none of them were wanted.

Interior Minister Valentin Radev said that an internal probe has been launched into the case, adding that he has ordered disciplinary proceedings against 13 persons, which includes the shift managers at Sofia Airport's border checkpoint, as well as the head of all airports. These people will be suspended and replaced by teams from the coastal cities of Varna and Bourgas, who are trained, he explained. Radev said that checks across all airports have been increased following the incident.

The Interior Ministry's Internal Security Directorate has also launched a probe, because Radev wants to establish why all officers who were on the shift had abandoned their posts.

Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Mladen Marinov believes that such cases of neglect damage Bulgaria's reputation when it comes to border security. He also noted that a probe will be launched into why news of the incident had reached him after two days.

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has summoned Interior Minister Radev, Chief Secretary Marinov and Border Police head Kichikov to report the case to him, the Government's information service said.

Borissov has ordered all officers found to be in disciplinary violations to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. He has also ordered an analysis to be conducted on the work of Sofia Airport's border checkpoint and adequate measures to be taken for its reorganization.