Joint deployment of officers from four countries at Bulgarian-Turkish border begins

The joint deployment of an additional 100 border police officers from four countries – Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria – at the Bulgarian-Turkish border began on February 3, in a move linked to Bulgaria’s earlier full integration into the Schengen visa zone.

The deployment of the additional officers was agreed to in mid-November 2024 and was key to Austria lifting its veto on the admission of the land borders of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen.

In terms of the agreement, of the 100 officers, 25 are from Bulgaria, 40 from Romania, 20 from Hungary and 10 from Austria.

Bulgarian Interior Minister Daniel Mitov, addressing a joint news conference in Svilengrad with his Romanian counterpart Cătălin Marian Predoiu and Austrian counterpart Sándor Pintér, said that the joint contingent was a sign of true European solidarity.

“In recent years, we have built on successful cooperation with Austria and have proven ourselves to be reliable partners,” Mitov said.

The protection of EU external borders cannot and should not be the responsibility of the frontline member states alone, he said.

“All three countries have been participating in the activities coordinated by Frontex on Bulgarian territory for years and we highly appreciate our cooperation so far and thank them for allocating additional resources for the formation of this joint contingent.”

Mitov said that there was an enduring trend of reducing migratory pressure on Bulgaria.

“The effective protection of this border remains our main priority and we will work to ensure that the good results are maintained and become even better,” he said.

Additional measures would be identified if necessary, Mitov said.

“Europe and the EU must be thought of as a whole. It must protect the freedoms achieved within – the freedom of movement of goods, people and capital. These freedoms are protected only if the external borders are well guarded,” he said.

Protecting the external borders “in the best possible way and to gradually reduce the migratory pressure on them, to make it clear that smugglers and illegal migrants have no chance across the Bulgarian-Turkish border,” Mitov said.

The land borders of Bulgaria and Romania were integrated into Schengen as of January 1 2025, following the admission of their air and sea ports at the end of March 2024.

(Archive photo: Bulgarian Border Police)

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