Migrants along Bulgaria’s Border with Turkey - 5 Times More than in 2021

In 2022, there is a fivefold increase in illegal migration along the Bulgarian-Turkish border compared to 2021. This was stated at a briefing by the spokesperson of the Prosecutor General - Siika Mileva. "The increase is reaching levels we haven't heard or seen since 2013," Mileva said.

The increased migratory pressure is the reason for a joint specialized operation of the prosecutor's office and the authorities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to counter illegal migration on the territory of the entire country. By order of the Prosecutor General, today employees of the National Police Directorate, the Directorate General of the National Police, the Directorate General of the Border Police, employees of the SDVR and the National Security Agency are conducting inspections of persons who are known to be involved in trafficking activities. "The traffic channels are from Turkey through Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania and from there - to Central and Western Europe," Mileva pointed out.

Persons who are known to have recruited and transported the foreigners, as well as people who provided accommodation for them, are also being checked.

"Unfortunately, the long blackout in the institutional relations between the prosecutor's office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was based on the political attacks against the judiciary, also bore its bitter fruits. In the fight to protect the Bulgarian border and national security, four Bulgarian policemen died", said Mileva and added that "we are eyewitnesses to how law enforcement officers started to speak the same language". "We hope to achieve good results and to stop this type of crime," Mileva said categorically.

The prosecutor's office presented...