Bulgaria – Turkey Border Working With the European Border Agency

The European border agency have been inaugurated at Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint between Bulgaria and Turkey border in October this year. The two countries are now separated with a razor wire and a metal fence. The European border agency aims to be the main frontier on land for the migrants that want to enter Europe but avoid the crossing of the Mediterranean Sea.

Approximately 1500 officers and 19 state members will be at the disposal of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, who can be quickly mobilized if there is an emergency. Officials from the European Union hope that this will increase the security and will help the cooperation between the various member states that have been arguing in connection with the refugees.

It seems that the long-term goal is for lifting the border controls that are inside the block and for restoring the passport-free area of Schengen. The director of the EBCG, Fabrice Leggeri, stated that the new agency is well equipped and quite strong to cope with the security challenges and the migration situation.

According to Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU Migration Commissioner, since the launching of the new European Border and Coast Guard Agency, the external border of Bulgaria becomes an external border of all member states. The agency will further be involved in the repatriation of those migrants that have been rejected from the asylum and are accepted as a threat to the security.