Bulgaria and Serbia have agreed to help each other monitor and control the migration flow across their territories and share relevant information, Bulgarian Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev has said. The two Balkan neighbours, wary of potential increase in the number of migrants and refugees trying to reach western Europe via their territories, have also discussed holding joint military drills to beef up border security. “The talks exceeded my expectations,” Nenchev has said in Nis, Serbia following a meeting with his Serbian counterpart Zoran Djordjevic on Wednesday, according to Bulgarian news outlet BGNES. Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner warned last week that a new corridor might be opened up through Bulgaria for migrants heading to Western Europe after the closure of the so-called Western Balkans route - from Greece via Macedonia and Serbia to Croatia and Slovenia and then north to Austria and Germany. In an interview with Austrian public broadcaster ÖRF, Johanna Mikl-Leitner last week said the "Eastern Balkans route" should be closed as well. Last week, Bulgaria and Macedonia agreed to conduct joint air and land operations for border control and protection to avert a possible shifting of migration flow that might result from the closure of the Western Balkans route. When asked whether Serbia would return irregular migrants who had crossed from Bulgaria, Nenchev replied that the issue has not been discussed during his talks with Djordjevic. “Bulgaria is ready to register anyone willing to enter the country at the sites designated for the purpose – the border checkpoints,” BGNES quoted Nenchev as saying. Nenchev has also reiterated Bulgaria’s position that the country’s Army is ready to assist police in protecting the country’s border with Greece if migrants stuck in Greece after the closing of the Western Balkans route try to reach Western Europe via Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Army can deploy 650 to 700 servicemen to help police cope with a potential rise in the number of irregular migrants trying to cross into Bulgaria from Greece, Nenchev said earlier this month.
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