site.btaThreats Are Promptly Identified and Dealt With, Interior Minister Says on Russian Connection to Illegal Migration

Everything that is observed in Bulgaria is being addressed as a threat, Interior Minister Daniel Mitov said on Wednesday regarding Russia's connection to illegal migration in Europe.

Mitov denied that there are Russian "elements" in Bulgaria that support illegal migration channels and added that the way they work is different. 

In response to a question from BTA regarding his comment to The Times and whether there are Russian "elements" in Bulgaria that support illegal migration channels, he said: "No, the way it works is completely different. Everything that is observed in Bulgaria is promptly identified and dealt with as a threat."

A few days ago, Mitov told The Times that Russian spies and far-left humanitarian organizations are working with human traffickers to flood Europe with illegal migrants. Mitov said that the Bulgarian government has evidence that Russian foreign intelligence has direct links to criminal gangs that facilitate the illegal entry of migrants into the European Union.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Mitov commented that EU countries bordering Russia or Belarus have for years been experiencing "the instrumentalization of migration flows by countries hostile to the EU". He added that the US and EU are struggling to secure their borders and put an end to the practice of criminal elements and organised crime groups smuggling illegal migrants across borders. “No one opposes migration, but it must be legal,” Mitov said.

He repeated that non-governmental organizations which for ideological reasons become involuntary accomplices to human trafficking do exist.

Interior Minister Mitov opened on Wednesday а Europol conference titled “From Click to Crime: Investigating Intellectual Property Crime in the Digital Age”.