Ex-Defence Minister: Fence at Bulgarian-Greek Border Would Cost BGN 500 M

Socialist MP and former defence minister Angel Naydenov. Photo: BGNES

Socialist MP and former defence minister Angel Naydenov was certain that the expenses on erecting a fence on Bulgaria's border with Greece would exceed BGN 500 M.

He made this estimate based on the fact that a kilometre of the fence at the border with Turkey costs BGN 1 M.

The Socialist MP noted that Bulgaria's border with Greece is much longer than the one with Turkey and spans 480 kilometres.

Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Defence Nikolay Nenchev have stated on several occasions that Bulgaria has readiness to erect a light wire fence at its border with Greece in the event of a heightened migrant pressure on its borders.

There have been expectations that the migrant flow will be redirected to Bulgaria after the closure of the Western Balkan migrant route.

Naydenov said that such projects should be realised only after carefully assessing the capacity of Greece to control the refugees on its territory and outlining measures to prevent the migrant flow from being redirected to Bulgaria.

In an interview for private bTV station on Wednesday, he added that the intention of the government to erect a fence has high public approval.

However, being based on the current fears of the population, it did not have a long-term vision.

Naydenov noted that Bulgaria's border with Greece passes through much rougher terrain than the one with Turkey, which would make the construction more expensive.

According to him, the fence is not the only means to stem the migrant influx.

In his words, the army units deployed to guard the border are fully prepared to halt the migrants and are capable of handling 10 000-15 000 refugees.

Naydenov opposed the idea for a new anti-terrorist legislation as a new law would bring new restriction with it. In his opinion, there are enough international agreements currently in force which are effective.

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