The Romanian Border Police and the Bulgarian Border Police are carrying out joint missions on the Black Sea and on the Danube River, intensifying co-operation at the common border as sea and air border controls have been dropped following the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the Schengen Area.

The Romanian General Border Police Inspectorate says that surveillance missions are carried out on the Black Sea, both in the territorial sea and in the exclusive economic zone of the two countries, ready to take action in case of the appearance of suspicious boats, and that surveillance and control missions are also conducted on the Danube River by boats of the local offices of the Border Guards in the two countries.

At the same time, at the Romanian-Bulgarian border crossings, missions are being conducted to combat migrant smuggling and tobacco smuggling, for which additional staff from both countries is provided.

The border guards check the modes of transportation, especially the compartments intended for goods, using mobile control equipment and canine patrols to that end.

Ground crews are assisted by the General Aviation Inspectorate both during the day and at night.

The joint border missions are based on an exchange of information between the institutions of the two states and contribute to the establishment of an efficient system of surveillance of the state border and to an increase in the citizen’s safety, in compliance with state border regulations.

AGERPRES