Bulgaria's Minister of Interior says that Russian intelligence services are aiding illegal migration

Russian spies and hard-left humanitarian groups are working with people smugglers to food Europe with illegal migrants, Bulgaria’s Minister of Interior Daniel Mitov said in an interview for "The Times".

Daniel Mitov said that the Bulgarian government had evidence that the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service had direct links with the criminal gangs facilitating illegal immigration into the European Union.

Daniel Mitov said that Russian spies are helping people smugglers find weaknesses in the EU’s external borders, including Bulgaria’s border with Turkey, and advise migrants on how to exploit the EU and UK asylum systems to avoid deportation. Additionally, some non-governmental organizations were collaborating with smugglers “under ideological pretexts”, according to Daniel Mitov.

Mitov said British teenagers had been helping “neo-Marxist groups”. “Illegal migration inflows are an instrument for hostile regimes to destabilise the European Union and the United Kingdom,” he said. “They are aiming to destabilise the welfare systems. Plus, of course … through smuggling radicalised individuals, they create security issues for us.”