Bulgaria Prevents 153 Irregular Migrants from Entering from Turkey, Greece

Bulgarian border police has thwarted attempts of a total of 140 foreign national to cross illegally the country’s border from Turkey over the past 24 hours.

A group of 13 foreign nationals was prevented from entering Bulgaria illegally from Greece, , the Ministry of the Interior announced in a statement on Sunday.

Border police has folied attempts of 1,858 irregular migrants to enter Bulgaria since the beginning of August.

The government has asked the European border management Frontex to deploy an additional 200 staff to help police and gendarmerie forces protect Bulgaria’s border with Turkey, which also is part of the European Union’s external border.

The reinforcement from Frontex is expected to arrive in Bulgaria by the end of next week equipped with rough-terrain vehicles and thermal imaging devices, according to the statement.

The government hopes that the additional force will be particularly helpful in the months of August and September when attempts to cross the border illegally nearly double.