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Bulgaria deploys army at border with Turkey: official

Xinhua, September 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Bulgaria on Thursday morning activated a plan to deploy troops at the border with Turkey in response to the increased migration pressure, an official said.

Georgi Kostov, Secretary General of the Interior Ministry, told a briefing that the deployment of up to 1,000 military personnel at the Bulgarian-Turkish border has begun according to the plan approved by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.

The deployment would be done in stages, depending on the situation, Kostov said.

The Army forces would guard the border jointly with the Border Police and the National Police, he added.

"Our actions should not be interpreted as distrust towards our Turkish partners -- they work professionally, correctly and competently," Kostov said.

These actions would support Turkey in its efforts to cope with the pressure, he said.

Recently, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Rumiana Bachvarova said her country is located on the most direct route to refugee flows from Turkey to Central Europe, but "we manage to prevent uncontrolled flows of people, despite fourfold increase of pressure on our borders this year." Endit