Bulgaria will want more EU aid to deal with migrant situation at Turkish border – Interior Minister
Bulgaria will seek additional financial assistance from the EU because of the situation at the border wth Turkey, Interior Minister Mladen Marinov said in Brussels, according to a report by Bulgarian National Radio.
Marinov was speaking ahead of a special meeting of EU interior ministers on the refugee crisis along the border with Turkey.
Marinov did not specify the amount that Bulgaria would ask for and added that so far there is no need to send more Frontex staff to Bulgaria.
“Bulgaria must also be helped, because (even) if we do not have exactly the same crisis as in Greece at the moment, this cannot be ruled out, so we must prepare when there is no crisis,” Marinov said.
A
statement on March 4 by the Bulgarian Interior Ministry quoted
Marinov as describing the situation at the Bulgarian-Turkish border
as “normal”.
“With no significant changes
compared with recent months, with isolated cases of attempts at
illegal crossing, which are being dealt with by Border Police
officers,” the Interior Ministry statement quoted Marinov as
saying.
He said that Bulgaria was responding “with great vigilance with regard to the crisis in Greece and has taken further measures to respond adequately in the event of a complicated situation”.
Marinov said that he would propose the allocation of funds related to staffing – for missions, to strengthen material and technical resources and to increase the mobility of staff to respond to a crisis if the external borders of the EU are breached.
(Photo of Marinov: mvr.bg)
