Bulgaria has been regarded highly for its cooperation with Interpol by the Secretary General of Interpol Ronald Noble who paid a visit to this country for talks with PM Boyko Borissov and Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov. During talks in Sofia a review was made of partnership between the Interior Ministry and Interpol and new joint projects were mapped out. Emerging from talks, Ronald Noble said.

One of the highlights in the talks was the terrorist attack in Burgas last July in which five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver were killed. Now Interpol intends to republish the photo of the suspect attacker, Ronald Noble specified. He said that Interpol planned to resume its efforts for disclosing the perpetrator. More, from Bulgarian PM Boyko Borissov:

“I can assure you that in our work with Interpol we have never made mistakes", Bulgarian Premier Boyko Borissov said. "We have been working in perfect synchronization in all operations. I have asked for support regarding the terrorist attack at Sarafovo Airport having in mind that we are searching for a person based on fingerprints that allows 100 percent identification. In addition we have the attacker’s DNA profile and his photo. I hope that with the experience and the influence that the largest police organization has, and with some assistance from other international partners, we will be able to establish the identity of the perpetrator of the Burgas attack.”

Ronald Noble also said that a few steps had been discussed for future cooperation between the Interior Ministry and Interpol for the integration of databases in Bulgaria and for tracking foreign nationals that enter this country. He explained that more often than not terrorists and organized criminals would use legitimate papers when they stay in the country. However when crossing the border they tend to use fake identity papers. For the purpose the Interior Ministry and Interpol have agreed on a joint project for upgrading security measures, due to start in two weeks, Minister Tsvetanov said.

“We have had very good results from our joint project in 2011. From 1 January 2012, the Bulgarian law-enforcement system started using the Interpol database for wanted persons in real time. It operates at all border checkpoints, and as many as 7 thousand users from the Interior Ministry system already have access to this database. In the recent months alone, more than 90 stolen cars have been intercepted, as well as 50 persons wanted by Interpol. We continue our work for a faster connection with Interpol. In two weeks from now, we are looking forward to meet with experts from the organization. The aim is to integrate the Bulgarian security systems in a way that will avoid any delay in checking data about foreigners. In fact, the procedure should take place by way of a mere pressing of a button.” 

The execution of the project will allow for checking the validity of the ID card as early as the check-in of foreign nationals in hotels. Using the Interpol database, wanted persons will be identified very fast. Ronald Noble, the Secretary General of Interpol, the organization with the largest database, confirmed the good results achieved by the Interior Ministry with a view to border control and praised the police force for its action against persons using fake ID papers. He concluded that Bulgaria and the world should be absolutely satisfied with the work of the Bulgarian Interior Ministry. 

Translated by Daniela Konstantinova