Off the wire
• Spain's vehicle production rises by 12.5 pct until April  • Berdych reaches second round at French Open  • 1st LD-Writethru-China Focus: Rising coral poaching in China  • Angry Alves opens door to Barcelona departure  • Africa Focus: Fuel scarcity bites Nigeria's economy  • Singapore visitor arrivals drop further in March due to less Chinese and Indonesian visitors  • Roundup: Suicide car bomb kills bomber, wounds 73 in S. Afghanistan  • Thailand, Fiji eye boosting political cooperation, trade, tourism  • Japanese, Malaysian leaders meet on high-speed railway project  • Archaeologists wrap up underwater excavation in Xisha  
You are here: 　 Home

Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey establish joint border center

Xinhua, May 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece here on Monday signed an agreement for the creation of a tripartite contact center for police and customs cooperation in a bid to tackle illegal migration, smuggling and terrorism.

In this contact center, police and customs authorities of the three countries would be able to share information in real time and react appropriately against illegal immigration and smuggling, Turkish Interior Minister Sebahattin Ozturk said at the signing ceremony.

The uncertainties south of the Turkish border influenced other countries, and Turkey currently sheltered 2 million emigrants, 1.7 million of them Syrian refugees, Ozturk said.

His Bulgarian counterpart Rumiana Bachvarova said this center, the first tripartite contact center in the Balkans, would be located in Bulgaria's Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint, near the spot where the three countries have a common border.

She said the agreement would ensure the better cooperation among the three countries that have faced the same global problems -- migration, organized crime and terrorism.

Immigration was a major problem throughout Europe, and this part of the common European border was extremely important, sensitive to possible pressure.

In turn, Ioannis Panousis, Greek Alternate Minister of Citizen Protection, said the joint efforts and plans would strengthen resistance against criminal activity and illegal migration.

He believed that this center would be a center not only for police cooperation, but also for interaction among the peoples of the three countries. Endit