President of Bulgaria Rosen Plenveliev has reiterated his country's support toward the efforts for a settlement of the Cyprus problem
by Sareth Kailas Kumaresan
Full Content The Bulgarian Prime Minister has announced to the world that his East European nation will be deploying around 400 security and military personnel to guard the country’s border with Greece. Boiko Borissov stated on Saturday that, “Hundreds of people, more than 400, from the army, paramilitary police and police, will stay here permanently,” his statement comes amongst rapidly growing fears that the relentless flow of migrants along the Balkan routes will pick up with the anticipated arrival of summer.
His statement which was released after the conclusion of a military exercise showcasing and testing the country’s equipment and preparedness in the border near Greek and Macedonia also included that 500 more security personnel were on standby, and could be mobilized within hours if it were necessary.
The exercise conducted between the army and the police on the 5th of March was aimed at testing the capacity of the country in dealing with a migrant influx and is part of a line of events that are aimed at reducing the influx of migrants into the country. It was only last year that the country erected a 15-foot-tall, 5 soot wide fence along its 50-mile border with Turkey. The Prime Minister has also been a notorious critique of Greece’s handling of the crisis and also boasted that his troops can solve the issue in a day by cracking down on the smugglers and would push for harsh criminalization of all illegal immigrants. His stance has proven to be widely positive for the country with very few migrants making it through the country into Europe. This relative success that the country has enjoyed in curbing the influx in migrants has also brought approval from other leaders like David Cameron and has made the country confident enough to even offer troops to Greece to tackle the issue.
With the Bulgarian parliament passing a bill which grants the army greater powers, the Bulgarian Army is more involved and validated than ever in defending the country’s seemingly porous borders.
With around 2000 police officers already involved in guarding its main migrant frontiers with Turkey and further planned construction of fences in the area, the small EU member is quickly taking center stage in the issue for its hardline stances. Being relatively inconsequential and on the side lines of the issue so far, however, complaints about the ill treatment of migrants in the hands of the police and its hard line stances the eyes of the world are quickly turning towards the European nation to see its response.
Currently some 500 asylum seekers are housed in reception centers waiting to know their fate in one of Europe’s poorest countries.
Sareth Kailas Kumaresan is an avid Defence enthusiast and a great IDN fan. This interesting piece was written by him exclusively for IDN. The views expressed are personal.