More than 7,200 checks were carried out in the first six days of the year.
During the checks, almost 120,000 cigarettes, 5.5 kg of tobacco, over 340 liters of alcohol, 800 liters of motor oil, 1,500 kg of detergent, 5,429 electrical appliances, 10,500 toys and 110 perfumery products were confiscated, the customs authority said. More than 61,000 improperly declared items – including electronic hookahs, veterinary medicines and glasses – were confiscated on the way from Austria to Turkey. In addition, six Syrian citizens who were presumably on their way to Austria were discovered at the Vidin ferry border checkpoint.
Border controls will continue by land at all checkpoints until Bulgaria joins the Schengen area. After that, Bulgaria will only control the EU’s external borders with Turkey and Serbia, according to the customs authority. From March, controls at the air and sea borders with Bulgaria and Romania will be lifted. Austria, which had blocked the two countries from joining Schengen since December 2022, agreed to the so-called “Schengen Air” at the end of 2023 and set three conditions.
According to the Austrian Interior Ministry, these conditions include increasing the deployment of the EU border protection agency Frontex in Romania and Bulgaria. Austria is also demanding money from the EU Commission for external border surveillance of these countries, increased controls at land borders and the acceptance of asylum seekers from Austria, especially from Afghanistan and Syria, by Romania and Bulgaria.
In this context, the Bulgarian government warned on Sunday against fake news. The Council of Ministers said on Sunday on its Facebook page that Bulgaria was not facing a crisis in accommodating refugees from third countries, according to BTA. There are also no new refugee centers under construction. “It is a well-known disinformation tactic,” it said. Since Bulgaria’s accession to the EU in 2007, Sofia has received applications under the Dublin Regulation not only from Austria, but from all EU member states, the cabinet said. In all of 2023, requested transfers from Austria to Bulgaria amounted to 193, according to the Bulgarian government, while actual returns were 113.
