Bulgaria will receive additional assistance of EUR 6 M from the European Commission to pay for increased cost of ensuring border protection against migration pressure, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has said.

“I received a confirmation earlier this week,” Borisov told reporters in the city of Veliko Tarnovo on Saturday.  

The additional funding will be used to support government efforts to provide reliable protection of the country’s borders against an inflow of irregular migrants, Borisov explained.

“I requested additional support from the European Union - people, equipment, helicopters, as army equipment has already worn out, not only the equipment of the police and gendarmerie. After my conversation with [German] Chancellor Angela Merkel almost all of them called me to say that they have a task to quickly assist Bulgaria.” Borisov said.

Borisov talked over the phone with Angela Merkel on Thursday about the “increasingly complicated and difficult situation regarding the migration crisis”. The German Chancellor pledged to raise the issue of the need for additional assistance from Frontex to Bulgaria with the European Commission and speak with Germany’s Minister of the Interior about possible help from the federal government, the cabinet in Sofia said in a statement on Thursday.