Sofia, May 14 (BTA) - Attempts by illegal migrants to cross the
Bulgarian-Turkish border increased seven times between January
and April 2021 compared to a year earlier, the Interior Ministry
 said on Friday. Bulgarian border police stopped 3,978 illegal
migrants from entering the country. A hundred and forty-seven
people were detained, of whom 120 outside the perimeter of
border crossings. The majority were from Syria, Afghanistan and
Iraq.

So far this year, attempts by illegal migrants to cross the
Bulgarian-Greek border have increased 12-fold compared with
2020. The border police stopped 2,213 people, who were all
returned to the interior of Greece. Ninety-seven people were
detained, of whom 28 at border crossings and 69 outside border
crossings.

Between January and April 2021, 449 third-country nationals were
 detained trying to exit Bulgaria, which is five times more than
 a year earlier. The largest number, 358, attempted to cross the
 Bulgarian-Serbian border. The majority were from Afghanistan,
Syria and Morocco and had previous detentions and registrations
in Bulgaria.

The Interior Ministry said Deputy Interior Minister Ventsislav
Katinov paid a working visit to the Kapitan Andreevo border
crossing where he familiarized himself with the work of the
border police. He underscored that border control is a key
priority along with the organization of fair elections. NV/PP