The minivan with 17 migrants was driven by a Bulgarian without a driver’s license. This was said on bTV by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Kalin Stoyanov.
“Early this morning, we received a report from the employees of the Directorate General of National Police about a minivan traveling on the Trakia highway. Fencing measures have been taken. At the entrance to Sofia, an attempt was made to stop the car, but it resisted – it refused to obey the police officers,” he explained.
The Minister of the Interior explained that a pursuit had begun and thus led to a traffic accident at one of the intersections of Cherni Vrah Blvd. A taxi was hit. “Fortunately, there were no casualties – the taxi driver is in good condition. Four of the passengers in the minivan have been admitted to several hospitals with minor injuries,” explained Kalin Stoyanov.
He also said that the car with the migrants was driven by an ineligible Bulgarian citizen who also has a criminal record. It was carrying 17 foreign nationals who identified themselves as Afghans.
“The migrant pressure has been very high in recent months. I will also give you an example – from the beginning of the year until now, we have had 156,000 attempts to cross the Bulgarian border illegally. For this period last year, they were 100,000,” the interior minister also pointed out. He clarified that the measures taken to protect the border are already yielding results.
Kalin Stoyanov also pointed out that the percentage of Bulgarians engaged in channel management has significantly decreased. On the other hand, the Ministry of Internal Affairs registers citizens from Romania, Ukraine and Moldova who try to transport migrants through Bulgaria.
