site.btaBorder Police Vessel “524 Balchik” Returns from Frontex Mission in Aegean Sea

The border police vessel 524 Balchik returned from participation in an operation coordinated by the Frontex Agency in the Aegean Sea, Border Police said on Tuesday. 

For 4 months, 4 crews carried out tasks around Lesvos Island. 

The purpose of the participation of the Bulgarian teams is to provide technical and operational assistance to Greece by coordinating operational activities at its external maritime borders to control illegal immigration flows, tackle cross-border crime, and strengthen European coast guard cooperation.

The border vessel 524 Balchik has completed a total of 1,100 hours of patrol activity in 100 daily missions.

During the missions the Bulgarian border guards prevented the illegal crossing of 12 boats with migrants. The Turkish Coast Guard was informed in due time, and the violators were apprehended in Turkish territorial waters. On average, there were between 30 and 50 irregular migrants per boat.  On February 9 this year, six migrants were rescued and subsequently detained. Five Egyptians and one Syrian were left by smugglers on the Fokas rock, west of the town of Plomari. They were given first aid on the border vessel and then handed over to the Greek coastguard.

Traditionally, the cooperation of Border Police with the Frontex Agency in the field of coast guard is at a very high level, given the fact that Bulgarian border vessels have been participating in operations in Greece since 2016. The joint actions on coastguard functions provide quality support and build the operational capacity of EU member states, the statement said.