Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Bulgaria should ask for EU help to protect the border, former deputy minister says

Police sirens to sound across the country in mourning of murdered border police officer

Photo: BGNES- library

Mourning was announced in the municipality of Elhovo on November 9 in memory of the 32-year-old police officer Petar Bachvarov, who was killed in a shootout at the border. The junior inspector will be posthumously awarded a Badge of Honor and at the request of his parents, he will be buried with a Border Police uniform on Wednesday.

No additional forces have been sent to the border with Turkey since the tragic incident. The forces are sufficient, chief commissioner Stanimir Stanev, who is also the deputy chief secretary of the ministry has told the BNR. Two people have been detained in Turkey over the incident. They are Turkish citizens, Stanev said and added that teams of the Bulgarian prosecutor's office and the Ministry of the Interior in Turkey that are led by deputy ministers are already in Turkey.

We cannot recall of such a serious border incident in the new history of the EU, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Milen Keremedchiev told BNR.

"We have good cooperation with the Turkish authorities and we worked with them so that the huge migrant flows are not directed to Bulgaria. There were heavy waves towards Greece, which sealed its border. We did not do that and we continue to negotiate with our Turkish partners from the position of the weaker side. It is obvious that we rely on other services and countries to stop traffickers and to guard our borders," Keremedchiev said.

"Frontex" also helps the Bulgarian border control at the moment, but this is not enough. In recent months, there has been no adequate response to a greatly increased and structured migrant flow. It is possible that there are members of terrorist organizations in it, which makes the work of the police even more dangerous.

"We must admit that we cannot deal with this problem alone and should ask for more serious cooperation, because breaching our border security is breaching the EU border," Keremedchiev added.




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

The Bulgarian National Radio and the Bulgarian News Agency teach a lesson in cooperation and unity

Exactly a month after the Bulgarian National Radio solemnly celebrated its 90th anniversary, history continues its dialogue with us, its authors. With a special event on February 25, the exhibition "90 Years of the Bulgarian National Radio - The Radio..

published on 2/26/25 12:59 PM

Three years later – about the war in Ukraine, peace and the future

Exactly 3 years ago, on February 24, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began – an event that woke up Europe 77 years after the end of World War II and called into question one of the main goals of the EU – preventing a new armed conflict on the continent...

published on 2/24/25 12:45 PM

Consecration of the new Bulgarian church ''St John of Rila'' in London

The festive service for the consecration of the new Bulgarian Orthodox church in London is led by His Holiness  Daniil , Patriarch of Bulgaria, who also officiated at the Ressurection Vespers on Saturday. Hundreds of lay people-official guests and..

updated on 2/23/25 1:06 PM