site.btaUPDATED Border Police Marks 137th Anniversary, over 200 Officials Awarded for Service in 2024

The Border Police General Directorate of the Interior Ministry marked its 137th anniversary on Sunday. It was 137 years ago that the first Border Guard Act was adopted in Bulgaria. 

On the occasion, a ceremony was held in Sofia to award over 200 officials of Border Police for achievements in 2024. Attending were caretaker Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov, Deputy Interior Minister Lyubomir Yosifov, the Border Police head, Chief Commissioner Anton Zlatanov, and acting Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Miroslav Rashkov, among others. 

In his speech, Chief Commissioner Zlatanov said Border Police is redy to face the challenge of protecting the borders in a new way after Bulgaria joins Schengen fully next year. "We are sending off a very difficult year, but it was also one of the most successful in the history of our structure, because it is a widely known fact that many people have worked for Bulgaria's Schengen membership. We have contributed greatly to the negotiations being successful, and we have managed to open the door to these negotiations so that today this long-standing discrimination - being outside of the Schengen area - can be brought to an end," he said. He listed as new challenges to be faced the protection of the borders in a way that will ensure the security and safety of Bulgaria's and Europe's society as a whole. "We are happy that many European security structures and our neighbours acknowledged the high results achieved, which we will have to upgrade next year," the Border Police head added.

Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov awarded honorary badges, diplomas and cash prizes to employees of the Border Police Directorate General. 

"We have all experienced the satisfaction of the tireless work put in for more than ten years so that we can now congratulate ourselves on an outstanding success," Ilkov said in his congratulations to the awardees and guests at the ceremony.

In his words, the success is due to the tireless work and the extraordinary efforts, professional motivation and experience that his colleagues have put into this important cause for them and for society. The responsibilities will be greater, Bulgaria's European partners will rely on the country very much and what will be invested in terms of skills and resources will be many times more, because the EU's external border is extremely important for us and for the Schengen area, Minister Ilkov added.

"We have to show that what we have achieved, we will build on it," Ilkov said. He expressed his confidence in the professionalism, qualities and motivation of the staff. "With our help and the help of our partners, we must show that we will justify the trust placed in us and that there should be no doubt in our professional qualities and skills," Minister Ilkov said.

Before the award ceremony, wreaths were laid at the Monument to the Fallen Police Officers in Sofia.