Balgarianovinite.com Border security was the main topic discussed by the interior ministers of Bulgaria, Greece and Turkiye during a trilateral meeting in Athens, caretaker Interior Minister Emil Dechev told BTA after taking part in the dialogue in the Greek capital on Wednesday.
Dechev described the trilateral meetings as an important initiative and said the talks focused on joining the efforts of the three countries in addressing shared challenges.
“The main focus of today’s talks is the joint efforts of the interior ministries of these three countries in tackling the common challenges they all face. These include illegal trafficking of migrants, drugs and weapons, as well as the use of such illegal trafficking routes for the infiltration of terrorist groups into Europe. We also discussed combating other forms of criminal activity,” Dechev said.
He noted that the ministers observed a positive trend of declining numbers of migrants crossing the borders of the three countries, which he attributed to stronger efforts against human trafficking and improved cooperation among Bulgaria, Greece and Turkiye.
“First of all, we found that there is a positive trend of a decrease in the number of migrants crossing our countries’ borders, thanks to efforts to counter this illegal criminal activity – human trafficking. We assessed that this is also due to the increased cooperation among the three countries and the joint efforts made to overcome these problems,” the caretaker minister said.
Dechev said Greece is sending teams to assist Bulgaria at the Bulgarian-Turkish border, while Bulgaria has deployed a Border Police vessel to support Greek border police ships in combating migrant trafficking along the sea border.
“As we know, Greece has many islands located close to the Asia Minor coast of Turkiye. We also report excellent cooperation with Turkiye. We have invited them to a seminar for improving the qualifications of border officers, in which Turkish representatives will also participate,” he added.
He stressed that there is continuous information exchange and contact among the three countries.
“Our Greek colleagues are satisfied that after our accession to Schengen there have been no problems at the Bulgarian-Greek border. This is a common conclusion. Cooperation with our Turkish colleagues is also at a very high level,” Dechev said.
He added that Bulgaria has made significant efforts to strengthen the capacity of Bulgarian Border Police by providing modern equipment through various programmes, including specialized vehicles for difficult and mountainous terrain, new drones, night surveillance cameras and upgraded border fence systems.
Earlier in the day, the caretaker interior minister also discussed illegal migration and cross-border crime during a working meeting with the regional governor of Edirne. Interior Ministers of Bulgaria, Turkiye, Greece Discuss Border Security at Meeting in Athens 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-04-29 16:13:00 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law