Bulgaria’s Interior Minister: We are Preparing a Specialized Operation against Illegal Migration

"Regarding illegal migration and trafficking, a specialized police operation is being prepared on a national scale, together with the prosecutor's office, it will start at the beginning of next week," said the Acting Minister of Internal Affairs, Ivan Demerdzhiev, from the parliamentary rostrum.

He specified that all cases, data and persons for whom operational information is available in every service in the country have been examined in detail.

"We have handed over to the Turkish authorities the information about Turkish citizens who we know and have data that are involved in this kind of activity on the Turkish side," announced the interior minister.

According to him, the idea is to conduct parallel operations in Bulgaria and Turkey, with the aim of hitting the groups associated with illegal migrants.

"Technical means and drones are included to monitor not only the movement of illegal migrants, but also the movement and behavior of border police officers. The specific case of the early morning of January 4 is an example not of a breach or lapses in the police, but an example of how currently the uniform and the service card do not protect anyone who commits anti-social acts," declared Demerdzhiev.

The interior minister added that the policeman showed his service card and was detained on the spot by his colleagues. Immediate measures were taken to remove him from office. The maximum that a minister of the interior can do has been done, Demerdzhiev is categorical.

"The fact that one police officer was involved in an activity in which thousands of citizens, including the entire European Union, are involved, does not indicate that the entire police force is hacked and corrupt," noted...