Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey launch joint border center

Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey on Friday launched a tripartite contact center for police and customs cooperation at Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint in a bid to tackle terrorism, illegal immigration and smuggling.

"Our countries face the same challenges in the field of security -- terrorism, illegal migration, smuggling, and transnational organized crime in its various forms," Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Rumiana Bachvarova said at the launch.

Rapid and direct exchange of information was necessary to cope with them, Bachvarova said.

"Namely through the new center, the competent authorities of our three countries will be able to carry out this exchange in real time," she said.

The tripartite contact center would also support the operative and search activities related to monitoring and control of the border, and help the exchange of administrative information, Bachvarova said.

"The identical challenges that we all face require a unified approach and control," said Nikolaos Toskas, alternate minister of public order and citizen protection in Greece.

Therefore, the creation of this tripartite center was another significant step in the police and customs cooperation, Toskas said.

Turkish Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu echoed that the new teamwork would contribute to achieving even better results in combating crime and illegal migration.

The contact center is a model for the upgrade of trilateral relations between Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey, and reflected the common understanding that a common approach was needed to successfully combat organized crime, Soylu said. Enditem