Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov met with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara, Turkey, on March 2, to arrange a summit with Greece and some European Union leaders in Sophia, the Bulgarian capital, to discuss options to prevent a refugee crisis due to the situation in Syria. While his attempt failed, he was able to get assurance from Erdogan that Turkey would not allow migrants to force the Bulgarian border.
Erdogan announced on Feb. 29 that Turkey’s borders with Europe were open for refugees to cross. Since then, thousands of migrants gathering at the Turkish–Greek border have tried to sneak into Greece, but Greek authorities pushed them back to Turkey with tear gas and stun grenades. Small groups, however, were able to cross the border unnoticed, both by land and sea.
