Bulgarian Defense Minister Krassimir Karakatschanow said Thursday he plans to deploy armed troops to strengthen border security with Turkey and halt any potential flow of migrants.

Speaking to German daily Die Welt, Karakatschanow said he plans to divide his country's border region with Turkey into five zones and have armed troops patrol each one. He said he expects the maximum manpower at the border to be around 600 troops, backed up by video surveillance and even drones.

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"We will send armed forces to each of these zones, who will be tasked with guarding the appropriate border region," Karakatschanow said. "Highly specialized combat troops will also be part of the forces."

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The defense minister justified the move to the German newspaper, saying that he had identified how much more efficient the military was at guarding a border region than the police force.

Karakatschanow also said the move was necessary following the European Union's failure to stem the flow migrants crossing the Mediterranean into Italy. "We cannot afford to continue having illegal migrants coming to Europe in droves," he said. "We should deploy NATO and EU troops in places like Italy and Greece, while defending the external borders of the EU, with armed force if necessary."

The Bulgarian lawmaker also said he believed the majority of people crossing the Mediterranean from Libya into Europe were economic migrants coming for personal gain, rather than to escape persecution. "They don't fear for their lives, they only want to live in a rich western country," he said.

Located along the Balkan route, Bulgaria saw hundreds of thousands of migrants pass through into western Europe during the height of the migrant crisis. Since then, Bulgaria's border with Turkey has been sealed with barbed-wire fencing, reducing though not quite fully stopping new migrant arrivals crossing into Europe.

Read more: Italy mulls sending navy into Libyan waters to stop migrants

Migrant rights group denounces Bulgaria's military border guards

Günter Burkhardt, the chairman of the Germany-based migrant rights organization Pro Asyl denounced the Bulgarian proposal as a violation both human rights and international law.

However, he said that this was part of a wider trend of violations on behalf of EU countries. "Italy's decision to send military vessels to Libya is just as indefensible as Italy, Germany, and other EU states' cooperation with the Libyan government.," Burkhardt said. "The normalization of these rights abuses is slowly becoming accepted within the European conscience.

On the Balkan route Mohammed from Syria The Kurdish English teacher fled the war in Syria and now has to deal with chaotic circumstances at the train station of Gevgelija, a small town in Macedonia. He wants to be registered here so he can continue to Serbia via train or taxi. He knows where he wants to end up and asks: "When you are in Germany, can you work in English, too?"

On the Balkan route Zaman from Morocco The man with the friendly laugh has already lived in Athens for four years - without papers. "Police there are really racist, though," he says. That's why he has joined the refugees. Even though there's no war raging in his home country, he wants to cross the border to Serbia close to the Macedonian village of Tabanovce. "I hope to find an honest job and an honest life in Germany," he says.

On the Balkan route Ahmad from Iraq "Our country has a big problem with the 'Islamic State.' The terrorists slaughter everyone they can get their hands on," the 17-year-old says calmly. He has traveled through Bulgaria, where he says police beat and robbed him. In Belgrade, he is now sleeping in the open, waiting for a bus heading north. "We want to go to Germany. You can lead a safe life there," he says.

On the Balkan route Mohammad from Afghanistan The two-time father is recovering in an improvised aid center in Belgrade. Like everyone else, he paid a trafficker for the crossing from Turkey to Greece. "But our boat capsized. My whole family was in the water for an hour before the Turkish coast guard arrived." Mohammad is glad that they are all still healthy.

On the Balkan route Milad from Syria "Everyone in Syria knows that Assad is killing innocent people," the 27-year-old IT expert from Damascus says. That's why he's waiting for "the Pakistani" in the northern Serbian town of Subotica. The man is supposed to bribe the Serbian and Hungarian border police and take Milad and his parents to Germany for 4,500 euros ($5,160). "I want to go to Frankfurt. I have relatives there," Milad says.

On the Balkan route Falat from Afghanistan The 25-year-old describes his situation at home in simple words: "Bad situation, every day war." He's also waiting for his trafficker in Subotica. The entire trip will cost him about 5,000 euros ($5,740). The Hungarian border fence? No problem. "We will go to Germany for sure. That is a good country that accepts refugees," Falat says. Author: Nemanja Rujevic / cb



dm/rt (AFP, dpa, KNA)