The following clip from Bulgarian TV features an interview with a man who is familiar with the border between Bulgaria and Turkey, and considers the defenses there useless.

Tanya T., who translated the video for subtitling, includes this note:

Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Transcript:

03:28 Mjad Algahfari, in the studio of “This Morning”. Good morning, happy New Year. — The same to you.

03:33 We’re going to talk about how the migrants and refugees spent New Year’s Eve,

03:36 and what kind of condition the Bulgarian-Turkish border is in,

03:39 because yesterday too, in a conversation with experts in our studio, it was said that

03:45 if the situation in Turkey becomes more unstable, the first country to be affected is Bulgaria,

03:51 and it will be here that the wave of refugees will arrive, but also [the wave of] terror.

03:55 Well, there is proverb in Bulgaria that says that if the house next door is on fire,

04:01 there is great chance that our own house will burn down as well.

04:08 Yes, also that when the bear is dancing in the yard next door, it will probably come to ours too…

04:12 The question, however, is whether we are prepared for this.

04:15 I’ve said this many times, we have the cadres, more or less – border policemen, policemen…

04:22 that is, they are few, but are doing work which, if anyone went out in the field

04:26 and saw how they work, he would be struck dumb.

04:31 Why? What is going on in the field? The migrants jump over the fence in seconds.

04:38 They put a ladder and within less than one minute about thirty of them cross.

04:43 Just by using a ladder? Yes, the ladder is put against the fence,

04:47 and within no more than a minute about thirty people cross.

04:52 Besides, the moment they enter our territory, even if the cameras spot them,

04:57 from the moment a signal is sent and the border police head to the spot

05:01 where the migrants entered, even if they have dogs with them,

05:05 according to my source, they cannot catch up with them.

05:09 Are they so fast? It all happens in such a quick-firing manner? They put up a ladder…

05:13 They put up a ladder, they jump over, and continue. —What was this fence built for then?

05:17 I’ve said it before —it’s a scale model.

05:23

05:44 It’s clear that in case of a flood, a huge flood, this fence might not withstand, depending

05:48 on the situation, really… No, not only would it not withstand, it doesn’t withstand…

05:52 —But in such… In such cases, when you could put up a ladder and cross it,

05:55 then… —Well, how high do you think it is?

05:58 A ladder is put against it, without any difficulty, they cross over

06:02 in less than a minute, and the group starts walking…

06:05 they don’t run, they walk… about five or six kilometers an hour.

06:12 Do the math — until the border police come, find the track, and go after them,

06:17 they are at least several kilometers ahead of them

06:21 I have information from Border Police — from acquaintances, from very good friends of mine —

06:27 when walking after them, from Malko Tarnovo,

06:30 they sometimes overtake them… that is, they don’t overtake them,

06:33 they lose their tracks as far away as Burgas (74km by road).

06:36 Can you imagine that? … —So many kilometers? So many kilometers in one gulp,

06:41 that’s between seven and nine or ten hours of non-stop walking. They don’t stop.

06:46 Anyone who stops — as happened, in that case in Burgas… yesterday or the day before, I think.

06:51 A Somali woman was abandoned by the group, and she froze to death.

06:56 Yes, if anyone cannot hold out, they abandon them and continue.

06:59 They have no pity.

07:02 Any stragglers are abandoned, and they continue. The goal is clear… —Yes, the goal is clear

07:06 — they have to reach a certain point, their transport has to come,

07:10 and take them across Bulgaria and from there onwards — to leave for Germany.

07:14 And, in terms of routes and actions, all is clear;

07:17 I’ve said it many times — we are light years behind the terro… the traffickers.

07:26 We are the ones who have to make the rules, not them.

07:29 They have the measure of us, so to speak, and are now playing with us.

07:35 And what is our measure? Is it that we are weak, or that we can’t cope with them?

07:38 We don’t have the vehicles to go after them. We have people, on foot,

07:41 with shabby boots… The man I spoke with

07:44 told me, Algahfari, “Take it from me,

07:47 when I get home, it’s all ice in my boot.”

07:53 He is a handler of dogs. Perhaps the authorities can now guess who I’m talking about,

07:58 since he is one of the few at Malko Tarnovo.

08:02 These are people who do their utmost, and can accomplish nothing.

08:06 Jeeps were bought… or rather, given as a donation to the Border Police.

08:10 What can they do with these jeeps, on such broken terrain?

08:13 migrants don’t walk on streets. They don’t use roads — they pass through rugged terrain.

08:18 People are needed, equipment is needed…

08:23 How come — I don’t want to mention his name [migrant hunter] — has an ATV and chases them —

08:29 why couldn’t our Border Police have ATVs?

08:35

09:17 How many of the people entering (the country) are really fleeing conflict, are fleeing war

09:22 and what portion of them are people with training, including training to shoot at people?

09:27 According to our information, and the opinion of experts, for example the Istanbul NYE attacker,

09:32 he was so cold-blooded, and he points a gun at people,

09:35 as if he has done it before. —As if it’s not his first time. —Yes.

09:38 Well, that’s why I gave that example —How many kilometers,

09:42 they walk for seven-eight-ten hours without stopping…

09:46 Trained people… Show me one of us who could endure so many hours

09:50 of walking, in such weather, at such low temperatures…

09:53 When you are fleeing to save your life other kinds of (psychological) mechanisms are unlocked.

09:57 The question is what motives these people have… —Yes, if you were fleeing, and right behind you

10:00 there was someone with a gun chasing you. Nobody is chasing you with a gun here.

10:04 You’re being chased by border police, who, when they catch you, will take you to a Border Police

10:08 post, will take your names, in the most rudimentary manner, since they lack interpreters,

10:13 and will send you to one of the migrant centers afterwards.

10:18 In most cases to an open-type center. You are still at large. What do you care?

10:24 You can still leave, you can be caught again, and returned there.

10:28 Our whole system is worth nothing.

10:31 A lot of money is spent. Officials brag about how much they get from the EU and our own budget,

10:36 how much this or that costs, what efforts they are making… They are doing nothing!

10:42 The fence has been cut all over the place — ask the border policemen, and they will tell you.

10:46 Unfortunately, the state forbids the ordinary border policemen to talk.