site.btaCCTV System for Monitoring Entire Length of Bulgarian-Turkish Border to be Ready by June 2015

Lessovo border checkpoint, Southern Bulgaria, August 29 (BTA) - The CCTV system for monitoring the entire Bulgarian-Turkish border, from Rezovo to Svilengrad, will be ready by June 105, caretaker Interior Minister Yordan Bakalov said. On Friday Bakalov checked the 30 km fence built at the border between Lessovo and Krainovo. He was accompanied by Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Svetlozar Lazarov and head of the Border Police Zaharin Penov.

Bakalov said that a decision to build a fence along the entire border between Bulgaria and Turkey is political and within the remit of a regular cabinet.

Bakalov said that the first step in solving the refugee problem is deterring migrants on the Turkish side, which can be done in the presence of a readmission agreement between the two neighbouring countries. "If such an agreement is signed, there will be no need for a fence," he said.

The Minister said that since August 1 to date, 16 people were detained for leading people across the border illegally, of whom13 are Bulgarian nationals.

Penov said that the 30 km fence has proved an effective deterrent, given that since it was completed, there have been 51detained persons in this stretch of the border, whereas 3,160 people were detained at the same section in October 2013 alone.