We are registering a certain decrease in the level of crimes in general, to date they are 3.7% less compared to last year, and about 3% is the increase in the level of crimes solved. This was said by the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Chief Commissioner Zhivko Kotsev, in an interview with BTA.
He gave as an example that there is a decrease in crimes against the person, theft of cars and theft of property.
However, there is a serious increase in reports of cases of domestic violence, and there is also an increase in the number of pre-trial proceedings, noted Zhivko Kotsev. “So far, 1,359 cases have been registered compared to 749 in 2022, i.e. 81.4% increase in acts of aggression in domestic conditions, this is extremely disturbing,” said the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
On the topic of human trafficking from Bulgaria, Chief Commissioner Zhivko Kotsev indicated that in 2022 a total of 153 victims of human trafficking were identified, of which eight were children. He also presented data for the past two years: in 2021, a total of 468 victims of trafficking were identified, of which 24 were children; in 2020, they are 458, including 31 children.
“This year, 11 special operations against human trafficking were carried out. Nine organized crime groups have been neutralized. 49 persons have been detained and 32 of them have been brought to criminal responsibility,” announced the chief secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He added that in 2022, the Ministry of Internal Affairs carried out eight special operations and neutralized five criminal groups along these lines.
In connection with the migrant pressure, a total of 170,000 attempts to illegally cross third-country nationals have been prevented so far, compared to 139,000 in 2022, explained Zhivko Kotsev. Over 12,000 people were detained inside the country. Bulgaria is doing very well with protecting the country’s border, which is also the border of the EU, he added.
The Secretary-General reported a decrease in attempts to illegally cross migrants, noting that during the past week, less than 300 attempts were reported in a single day, while until two months ago the number varied between 1,200 and 1,500 per day. Kotsev added that there is over an 80% increase in pre-trial proceedings and over 30% convictions in line with the fight against migrant pressure. He noted that the reduction in pressure is thanks to the mutual efforts with the Turkish side, as well as the synchronization of the Ministry of Interior with Europol and Frontex.
