Georgi Kostov

Nine Bulgarians have been detained as part of a criminal group which distributed and put into circulation fake bank notes of EUR 50 and EUR 100, announced the chief of the Specialised Prosecutor's Office Ivan Geshev.

The Interior Ministry reported a successful operation against cigarette smuggling in which it did not participate but provided information about the criminal group to partner institutions.

Posters with the pictures and nicknames of men suspected of having sold drugs over the last ten years, but appear untouchable, appeared near the National Palace of Culture in the last few days.

"In the last 20 days alone, losses in the forests amount to 20,000 decares or almost as many as for the entire 8 months since the beginning of the year," said the Director of General Directorate Fire Safety and Protection of Population Service, Nikolay Nikolov.

"The state is surveying land plots for new refugee centres on the entire territory of the country," stated the Commissioner General of the Interior Ministry, Georgi Kostov, during his visit to Harmanli together with the Chairwoman of the State Agency for Refugees, Petya Parvanova. The reason is that existing centres are now full.

Police are looking into possible links of offers to people smuggling migrants into Bulgaria, an official has said.

The suspects are working at a police pepartment in the town of Velingrad, next to the border with Turkey, the Interior Ministry's Chief Secretary Georgi Kostov has told private NOVA TV station.

The pressure exerted by migrants on the Bulgarian-Turkish border has decreased by almost 50 % in the past months compared to the same period last year.

Since the beginning of the year, Bulgaria has registered 10 000 attempts for illegal crossings of the border.

The Bulgarian government has said it is starting checks of driving licenses that could be "subject to manipulation".

Measures related to "fake examination protocols" have been discussed by officials at a Friday meeting to root out practices that call into question the proper issuance of a number of licenses in Bulgaria.

Police have escorted retired officer Petar Kodzheykov, who had locked himself up in his apartment with his wife, out of their apartment in a neighborhood in Bulgaria's capital Sofia.

Austria is ready to support Bulgaria'sefforts to improve border security in view of potential increase in migration pressure, including by secondment of police officers, a senior Austrian official has said.