site.btaMigrant Pressure on Bulgarian-Turkish Border Currently Negligible, Says Interior Ministry Secretary General

Migrant pressure on the Bulgarian-Turkish border is negligible, Interior Ministry Secretary General Zhivko Kotsev said at a briefing in Veliko Tarnovo. He pointed out that 28 cases of illegal crossing of citizens from third countries have been registered to date, and added that the Bulgarian side has a perfect partner relationship with the Turkish authorities which contributes to good results.

"We are monitoring the processes, analyzing them, for the moment there are no conditions for concern," he pointed out. In the same period in 2023, the pressure was greater, and this was not related to the bad weather conditions. The state has a plan to introduce integrated systems for guarding the state border. On the Turkish side, large-scale operations are also being conducted to control the migrant pressure, he noted.

In Veliko Tarnovo, Kotsev participated in the annual report-analysis of the activities of the Regional Directorate of the Interior in 2023. In the past year, both there and throughout the country, there was a reported increase in cases of domestic violence, he pointed out. An increase has been reported in registered bodily injuries, the number of non-compliance with domestic violence protection orders is increasing, he added.