Foreign secretary<\/a> Yvette Cooper agreed, saying it was not just driven by gangs ‘seeking to make a profit’ – but ‘by hostile state actors seeking to destabilise Europe’.\u00a0<\/p>\n‘That threat is real, growing and very serious and I have made clear that we need to expand and strengthen our international cooperation to tackle it together,’ she continued.<\/p>\n
![\"Daniel](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/103126935-15207499-image-a-69_1760920149633.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Daniel Mitov, the Bulgarian home secretary, said his government had evidence of direct links between Russia’s foreign intelligence agency and the criminal operations. Pictured: A small boat carrying people thought to be migrants leaves Gravelines, France, on October 10, 2025\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ms Cooper reaffirmed her support for Bulgaria and other Nato allies in securing European borders, tackling smugglers and fending off threats from the Kremlin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This would be done by providing specialist equipment, intelligence and training, she said.<\/p>\n
Bulgaria will be among the European nations to attend a summit on illegal migration hosted in London by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Wednesday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leaders will discuss plans to stem illegal migration through the Western Balkans, which is one of the main passages into the EU.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The PM also hopes to progress talks with leaders on ‘return hubs’ in the region.<\/p>\n
They would take asylum seekers whose claims have been rejected by the UK in exchange for intelligence and money.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The UK has so far approached Kosovo, North Macedonia, Bosnia Herzegovina and some non-European nations about the proposals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bulgaria became part of the Schengen area in January, the group of 29 EU countries which have removed internal border controls to allow freedom of movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It led to the country’s 161-mile border with Turkey becoming part of the external boundary of the union.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The development has meant, according to Mr Mitov, Bulgaria is now ‘the gateway to Europe’ and needs further external reinforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The interior minister also made the controversial suggestion some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are working with smugglers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He dubbed such humanitarian bodies ‘neo-Marxist groups’ operating under ideological pretexts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The politician claimed their assistance of migrants was ‘maybe unwittingly’ facilitating people smugglers and the hostile states he said are assisting them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among the accused groups are Mission Wings, a Bulgarian children’s charity, and No Name Kitchen, which ‘defends freedom of movement’ in the Balkans and elsewhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Several individuals are currently being investigated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Mitov warned anyone thinking of volunteering at the Bulgaria-Turkey border they faced jail and fines if they helped migrants cross the border illegally.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"He](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/103126943-15207499-image-a-68_1760920074553.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
He claimed agents are locating for smugglers weaknesses in EU borders, including that between Bulgaria and Turkey. Pictured: A Border Force vessel brings migrants intercepted crossing the Channel into Dover on October 8, 2025<\/p>\n
Mission Wings denied involvement in people smuggling: ‘Neither our organisation nor its staff have ever participated in rescue operations involving migrants or refugees at Bulgaria’s borders.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘Whenever we have received signals concerning migrants in distress, we have immediately alerted the Ministry of Interior and the national emergency number 112, and have co-operated fully with the competent authorities.<\/p>\n
‘To accuse us of co-operation with criminal smuggling networks is absurd and offensive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘We have consistently and publicly opposed irregular border crossing, which constitutes a crime and poses serious risks.’<\/p>\n
No Name Kitchen also rejected any such ‘baseless’ allegations, emphasising its status as an EU-registered humanitarian group.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘For nearly a decade, we have worked in full compliance with domestic and international law,’ it said.<\/p>\n
‘As stated by the European Commission to the Bulgarian authorities, humanitarian assistance is not a crime and never has been.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘We remain committed to lawful action and protecting human rights at Europe’s borders.’\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The claims follow the deportation of 16 people from the UK to France this week under the countries’ one-in, one-out deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This takes the number removed from Britain under the treaty agreed on by Sir Keir and French president Emmanuel Macron this summer has to 42.<\/p>\n
It is understood some 23 migrants have arrived in the UK from France under the scheme.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since the deal came into effect on September 18, some 5,703 migrants have come to the UK across the Channel in 82 boats.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood described the UK’s latest deportation efforts as the ‘largest return flight under our historic deal with the French’.<\/p>\n
She added: ‘And it sends a warning to those considering entering this country illegally: if you come here by small boat, you can be sent back.’<\/p>\n
More flights are expected to take place in the coming days and week.<\/p>\n
The latest English Channel crossing figures meanwhile showed a total of 369 people made the perilous journey in seven boats on Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This brings the total for the year so far to 36,734.<\/p>\n
This is 82 short of the total for the whole of 2024, which was 36,816.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Returning a handful of illegal immigrants when tens of thousands are crossing is laughable.’\u00a0<\/p>\n
The returns deal signed earlier this year is aimed at creating a disincentive for the Channel crossing.<\/p>\n
Ms Mahmood met her counterparts from the Western Balkans in London on Wednesday, ahead of the prime minister’s gathering next week.<\/p>\n
International policing efforts are attempting to crack down on smuggling gangs who have plotted trafficking routes through the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Russian spies are helping people-smuggling gangs bring migrants into Europe, the Bulgarian interior minister has claimed.\u00a0 Daniel Mitov,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":513162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[92,2000,299,5187,257,12,332,461],"class_list":{"0":"post-513161","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-european","12":"tag-london","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-russia","15":"tag-turkey"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115403785472825300","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}