Bulgaria Ready to Deploy 1000 Troops to Turkey Border over Migrant Pressure

Defense Minister Nikolay Nenchev said on Wednesday that Bulgaria might move to sent up to 1000 people to patrol along the border with Turkey, amid expectations of renewed migratory pressure.

By the end of Wednesday, the number of people to be deployed will be somewhere between 50 and 160, the Bulgarian National Radio quotes him as saying.

The idea is to provide, if necessary, assistance to border police, amid reports that hundreds of migrants en route to Germany might try to cross into Bulgaria from Turkey, the minster told reporters.

He made clear there had been a change of the situation on the Turkish side of the border in the previous few days.

Authorities in Turkey are trying to contain thousands of migrants from Syria en route to Germany who are trying to reach the country via Bulgaria. The local administration in Edirne, a city not far from the Bulgarian border, and the Red Crescent are  providing food, accommodation and medical care, regional media outlets are quoted by BGNES wire service as warning.

This comes after the past few days' move by governments of several EU member states to start closing their southern borders to prevent migrants from getting in.