On the Bulgarian border: Volunteers for "refugee hunting"

With the closure of the Macedonian border, more refugees could again head west via Bulgaria. However, the brutality of Bulgarian police is well-known, and now citizens are also organizing into patrols to „hunt“ refugees, reports the Patria news agency.

-From our village to the border it is seven kilometers. Everyone who manages to get through the border fence passes by our village“, says 76-year-old Kosta while tending goats in a meadow.

He is one of only 18 residents of the village of Dolno Yabalkovo, a small place where fresh bread is delivered only three times a week, and mobile phones have almost no reception.

Recently, however, Dolno Yabalkovo made the headlines thanks to Dinko Valev. This young man from the nearby town of Yambol became a hero of the tabloid press because he patrols the border with Turkey on his four-wheeled motorcycle, where he has allegedly caught 25 refugees „with his bare hands“ so far.

Currently, Dinko is trying to gather volunteers for „refugee hunting“.

-Everyone we catch stays in our hands. It is clear that I want to kill them, and they want to kill me too, right? the young man said in a television interview.

Valev also boasted about his readiness for violence in an interview with DW:

-If they are allowed to throw bombs, then I am allowed to as well.

For him, things are crystal clear – every refugee is a jihadist. He confirms that he is founding a „citizens' patrol“ that should walk the border strip starting next week.

Such an initiative has not yet attracted the attention of the Bulgarian police. Interior Minister Rumiana Bachvarova called on the media to inform the police if they have knowledge of illegal activities, but described the belligerent statements and announcements of young Dinko Valev as merely „unusual“.

-Dinko should not be taken seriously, says a local politician who asked to remain anonymous.

-He just wants to attract attention, so he constantly does stupid things: for example, he drove a tank down a village road, rode a horse in the middle of the main square, and chases pedestrians on the sidewalk with his motorcycle, writes B92.