Bulgaria FM Calls for NATO Operation along Border with Turkey

NATO should "have a land operation" along the Bulgaria-Turkey and the Greece-Turkey borders if its recently launched mission in the Aegean proves successful, Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov said on Tuesday.

During a summit of the Visegrad Group in Prague, where he accompanied Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Mitov said Sofia would insist on the step if the Alliance's operation that was announced last week in the Aegean delivers tangible results.

NATO defense ministers approved on Thursday the inclusion of alliance forces in the international effort to crack down on illegal people smuggling by launching a sea mission in the waters between Turkey and Greece, which hundreds of thousands of migrants have crossed in recent months heading for Europe.

Mitov added Bulgaria would also demand from the Visegrad Group countries (the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary) assistance in protecting the border with Turkey.

The four countries in question, which invited both Bulgaria and Macedonia to their Monday summit in Prague, have proposed the establishment of a "reserve border system" along the two Southeastern European states' frontiers with Greece.

They maintain the measure will be needed if Athens failes to deliver on its commitments to curb the migrant influx.

Germany has already declared its resistance to the idea, and Bulgaria has argued common European solutions must be sought, instead of sealing off Greece's northern borders.

Mitov on Monday also warned "pressure" has to be applied on Turkey to hold on to its promises and help mitigate the influx.

"Recent statements by [Turkish] President Erdogan are raising huge concern in us and do not contribute in any way [to a solution of the migrant crisis]," he added, in a reference to reports of comments by Erdogan, who is said to have threatened EU leaders to send millions of refugees to Europe via Bulgaria and Greece.

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