Deaths involving people crossing the border illegally continue to occur on Bulgarian roads. In November 2025, six Afghan refugees died in a police chase. Border police Chief Anton Zlatanov said, that the driver repeatedly refused to stop at the given signals and tried to avoid the spike strips laid out by the police. The Romanian driver survived with minor injuries, four other migrants were brought to hospital.
With Bulgaria and Romania’s accession to the Schengen Area on January the 1st, 2025, the protection of Bulgaria’s external border became a central EU project. Alongside the 1,200 Bulgarian border guards, hundreds of Frontex officers from Bulgaria, Germany, Austria, Romania, and Hungary operate at the borders.
Frontex officers can now also be directly employed by the agency. In 2024, Bulgarian authorities prevented 52,534 people from entering the country. 2025, the agency focused on containment. For example, in the first half of the year, it completed a pilot project using drones to transmit real-time images in order to make border operations more effective. Critics warn that the increasingly militarized border policy massively increases the risks for refugees – while legal pathways to entry are lacking. Between inadequate rescue services, systemic isolation, and contradictory statements from authorities, the bereaved are left only with grief for their loved ones.