Bulgaria Ready to Build Barrier on Greece Border, Says PM
Bulgaria is bracing for increased migrant pressure along its southern border with Greece and is ready to install a razor-wire barrier at any time, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said Friday.
"The major threat that I see at the moment is from the Greek border, which is very long and unprotected. We are worried that in the last several months the Greek government has not taken any measures," Borisov told parliament, adding that the conditions in the Greek refugee shelters were "horrible."
"We have information that right now, groups of 1,000-2,000 people are organizing themselves (to enter Bulgaria). We are ready to take any measure, including, if necessary, the building of a light barrier," Borisov said.
The shutting earlier this year of the main migrant route from Greece through the western Balkans towards northern Europe left thousands of migrants stuck on the border between Greece and Macedonia.
Bulgaria had so far concentrated on buttressing its other 259-kilometer (160-mile) southern border with Turkey, sending over 2,000 border police and speeding up the construction of 132.5 kilometers (82 miles) of three-meter-tall fence.
But Borisov said that pressure at that border remains "feeble".
Sofia and Skopje struck an agreement last Friday to work together to prevent people turning to go through Macedonia's eastern border with Bulgaria.
"We have set up hotlines for exchange of information and sent people in our neighboring countries to monitor any start or preparation for such moves," Borisov said.
Source: Agence France Presse
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