Bulgaria to hold military drills near Macedonia border

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria will stage a series of military drills to support border police near the Macedonian frontier, Bulgaria's defence ministry said on Tuesday, amid an increased flow of migrants through the Balkan country’s neighbours. "The situation in the neighbouring states of Macedonia, Greece and Serbia is quite complicated and we have to react preventively," defence ministry's chief of staff Valeria Kardashevska told Reuters. More than 5,000 people crossed into Serbia from Macedonia on Sunday, resuming a journey to western Europe after Macedonia gave up its attempts to stem the flow of mainly Syrian refugees by force. The flow was unabated, as Greece ferried people from inundated islands to the mainland. A record 50,000 reached the Greek mainland by boat from Turkey in July alone, bringing ripples of Middle Eastern conflict to Europe's shores. "We have already sent 25 troops and the relevant equipment and we are ready to increase the number of troops if necessary," Kardashevska said. "We are in constant contact with the border police. The interior ministry said that border police helicopters have been conducting flights above the Bulgarian-Macedonian border and sections of the border with Greece. "We have no worries that we would be criticized that the exercises are held near the border because the purpose is preventive and the task of our troops is to support the border police if needed," Kardashevska said. Bulgaria has also seen an influx of migrants crossing from Turkey, with 25,000 people applying for refugee status in Bulgaria in the past two years - as many as in the previous two decades combined - according to official data. Bulgaria has beefed up its border police, installed cameras and motion censors, and is extending a security fence that will cover 160 km (100 miles) of its border with Turkey. Bulgaria, a close ally of Moscow in communist times, joined NATO in 2004. (Reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Dominic Evans)