A joint military force from Bulgaria, Austria, Romania and Hungary began working to guard the Bulgarian-Turkish border. The agreement to set up a unit of Border Police officers from the four countries was officially signed Monday in Svilengrad, southern Bulgaria, by the directors of the Bulgarian and Romanian Border Police, the Hungarian National Police and the Director General of Public Security of the Austrian Interior Ministry.

This military force will consist of 120 officers.

“If we are not able to protect our external borders, it means that we will not be able to protect our internal borders either,” Hungarian Interior Minister Sandor Pinter warned. He noted that with this agreement his country supports efforts to protect the Schengen area and external borders and welcomed the entry of Romania and Bulgaria into this area.

The creation of the military force is an even stronger protection measure that provides security, according to Romanian Interior Minister Catalin Prentoiu. Illegal immigration is a global phenomenon and a big business that destabilises countries. Moreover, migration flows also mean drug and arms trafficking, he stressed.

He also noted that his country would insist on more European funding and consolidation of Frontex, as well as investment in technology and equipment for the Border Police.

Austria has been promoting effective border security measures for years, Franz Ruff said on behalf of the Austrian Interior Ministry. He explained that efforts at national and international level show that his country is strongly against irregular migration and human trafficking and smuggling. He assessed the signing of the memorandum as an important step for future cooperation between Austria and Bulgaria. Ruff noted that the officers sent from Austria are extremely well trained and with international experience.

After the end of the official meeting, the director of the General Directorate of Border Police Anton Zlatanov said that with the new military corps the main commitment to protect the Bulgarian-Turkish border will remain with the Bulgarian border police and army with 1,500-1,600 border guards and hundreds of soldiers.

He assured that migration pressure is currently low but is expected to increase in the summer. Last year, he said, a large number of organized criminal trafficking groups were neutralized jointly with the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime, the national police and Bulgaria’s State Agency for National Security.

As for the police officers at the border with Greece after Bulgaria joined the Schengen area, Zlatanov explained that their number is the same, but they are no longer at the border crossing posts, but on the roads near the border.

Bulgarian Interior Minister Daniel Mitov stressed that guarding Europe’s external borders cannot and should not be the sole responsibility of the member states on the front line.

The new military formation will complement the work of the Bulgarian Border Police, he said, announcing that thanks also to cooperation with the Turkish side, a steady trend of decreasing migratory pressure on Bulgaria from Turkey is reported, with effective border protection remaining a top priority.

The relevant heads of the military forces of the four countries will maintain an effective interface with each other and conduct a professional analysis of this military force, Mitov explained.