site.btaInterior Minister Buchvarova Says There Are Fewer Migrants During Past Week

Interior Minister Buchvarova Says There Are Fewer Migrants During Past Week

Sofia, October 30 (BTA) - Interior Minister Roumyana Buchvarova on Saturday said that the number of illegal migrants has dropped in the past week. She inspected the construction of a fence along the border with Turkey at Rezovo and Malko Turnovo.

The Interior Minister said that with the construction of this stretch the fence will be competed.

She said that more migrants have been trying to get into Bulgarian concealed in large vehicles, which is indicative of the efforts that Bulgaria is making and of the effect from the construction of the fence. The number of undocumented migrants at the Bulgarian-Serbian border is also down, said Buchvarova.

During her visit Buchvarova met with border police and posted police officers to discuss the situation and deployment of patrols along the border. The officers are assisted by 189 Frontex staff mainly from Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic.

Burgas Regional Governor Vulcho Cholakov said that the border fence will be completed by the end of the year. Currently 50 km have been procured and next week another 10 km will be procured and the Burgas Region will have 127 km of fence.

Quoted by the government information service, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said in Novi Pazar on Saturday: "We have stated clearly, with respect to all human values, human rights and the law, that we can't condone neither these who want to use force against the migrants at the border nor those who say that we should let them come freely. The truth is somewhere in the middle. People are fleeing from the wars that we, the West, have started, because Bulgaria is a member of the EU and NATO. We have started so many wars and now we are suffering the consequences. That's why I have always said that our foreign policy should be revised. There is nothing better than the peace and for these people to return to their native land. This is my policy, and this is the policy of my party and the state, which is why the European Commission listened to us. It extended millions in aid for our border and it launched the European Border and Coast Guard service here, which means that Bulgaria's border is a European border."

Borissov also said that the idea is to build reception centres for near the border in order to facilitate the migrants' return. "We have spent over 100 million leva, we are building fences, forest roads, we have equipment, gendarmerie, we revised the law, we have recruited another 1,000 people. There's nothing more that we can do. Politicizing this issue is not constructive. These are human beings. This a disaster caused by us and now we are suffering the consequences," said the Prime Minister.