Bulgaria Never Discussed Possibility to Station Army at Border – PM

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov at the first meeting of the Council of Ministers for 2015. Photo: BGNES/EPA

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov announced that the government has never discussed the possibility to station the army at the border with Turkey in order to guard it against the influx of refugees.

According to him, the suggestion was for the army to provide logistical support to the officials of the Interior Ministry.

Borisov commented this at the meeting of the cabinet on Wednesday, Darik radio reports.

The Prime Minister assured that Bulgaria is fulfilling strictly its commitments towards the refugees.

Borisov said that in order for Bulgaria to take care of the refugees in the best possible way, they have to enter the country through the official border checkpoints.

Meanwhile, former Defence Minister Boyko Noev commented that the President was not in the position to decide whether the army has to be stationed at the border, electronic daily Dnevnik reports.

According to Noev, the President had an important role and opinion on the issue, but it was not in his capacity to decide.

This comes following the statement of President Rosen Plevneliev, who announced on Tuesday that he will not allow the stationing of the military at the border when there was no army on the opposite side, as this could cause a diplomatic scandal.

The idea for the army to aid the Interior Ministry, both with logistics and personnel, in guarding the border against the entry of refugees, was expressed by Interior Minister Veselin Vuchkov at an inter-institutional meeting discussing the problems with immigrants.

According to Noev, there was nothing wrong for the army to support the Interior Ministry.

The former Defence Minister said that the army could be employed also for peaceful means, such as during the times of disasters and crises.

He expressed scepticism that this could lead to a diplomatic scandal with Turkey and added that the two countries should cooperate on tackling their common problem at the border.

Noev concluded that it was in both countries' interest to ensure the security of the border.

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