Border control

Anton Zlatanov, the director of Bulgaria's Border Police, addressed Austria's requirements for Bulgaria's entry into Schengen, calling them potentially political rather than professional. In an interview with жTV, Zlatanov expressed uncertainty regarding the stipulations put forth by Austria and highlighted the lack of concrete professional arguments against Bulgaria's entry into Schengen.

More than 2,100 people, including children, women and people with disabilities, are alleged to have been victims of informal pushbacks during 2022, according to figures derived from the annual report of the Recording Mechanism that monitors, records and reports incidents of informal forced returns for the National Human Rights Commission.

Bulgaria's border police have been working tirelessly to prevent illegal entry into the country, successfully thwarting more than 170,000 attempts by citizens of third countries since the start of this year. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the Bulgarian-Turkish border has been the epicenter of this migratory pressure, accounting for over 99% of the total incidents.

A leading international medical charity alleged Thursday that testimony from dozens of migrants over the past two years points to a "recurring practice" of secret, illegal and often brutal deportations back to Turkey from two eastern Greek islands.

BELGRADE - In case a new migrant crisis breaks out due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, it will not be a direct threat to Serbia, Asylum Protection Centre Director Rados Djurovic told Tanjug on Wednesday.

A year and a half after taking office, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made his first bilateral visit to Austria.

A US soldier under disciplinary action has fled to North Korea across the border with South Korea, Reuters reported, citing US officials.

Greece's new minister for migration said Monday he would consider it "unthinkable" for the European Union to pull out its border protection force from the country, and promised to address a growing list of international grievances over dealing with migrants.

The Turkish Coast Guard has rescued 84 irregular migrants pushed back by Greek authorities off the northwestern province of Çanakkale.

The teams initiated an operation after receiving information that a group of irregular migrants was drifting off Çanakkale's Ayvacık district.

Police teams have caught 109 irregular migrants during an operation in the western province of Izmir's Konak district.