Bulgarian regions near Turkish border declare state of emergency due to migrants

A partial state of emergency was declared on Friday in the Svilengrad and Topolovgrad districts in the Haskovo region near the Bulgarian-Turkish border due to illegal migrants, the governor of the region Minko Angelov said, Report informs, citing TASS.

"The emergency regime is introduced from noon on September 23 and will be in effect until 12:00 on September 29. The reason is the complicated situation due to increased migration pressure in the border areas. The goal is to prevent deaths and significant damage to the property of the population and the country's economy, as well as the environment," said Angelov, quoted by the press service of the regional administration of Haskovo.

Nova TV reported that similar measures are being taken in the regions of Burgas and Yambol.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, since the beginning of the year, 103,998 migrants have tried to illegally enter Bulgaria from Turkiye, which is over three times more than in the same period in 2021. In the last week alone, 6,264 attempts to cross the border were recorded.