A delegation headed by Greek minister for protection of citizens Michalis Chrysohoidis is due to arrive on an official visit to Bulgaria on June 9 2010, the Interior Ministry has announced.

Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov is scheduled to meet Chrysohoidis for bilateral talks between the Greek and Bulgarian delegations, the report said. The two ministers are expected to ink a trans-border police co-operation agreement. Chrysoholidis is a a member of the Greek parliament, and the ruling Pasok party.

The Greek ministry for citizens protection is the equivalent of the Bulgarian Interior Ministry. It is composed of Greek police, the national intelligence service, the Greek coastguard, the fire brigade, the general secretariat for civil protection, and the Greek agrarian police.

In February, Todor Georgiev from the Bulgarian Border Police reported that there had been a sharp increase in crimes near the Bulgarian-Greek frontier in 2009. He said that criminal activity in the area had risen by about 25 per cent.

With the area of jurisdiction of the Border Police being doubled, the town of Pamporovo was now to be included in their watch.

According to Georgiev, the department will be reshuffled and reorganised over the next few months so that it can effectively deal with increased responsibilities.

Border Police patrols have already been deployed around the town of Smolyan, the report says.

Subsequently, a joint Greek-Bulgarian co-ordination centre was launched on the Kulata-Promahon border checkpoint to combat crime.

Respective authorities from each country agreed to open a co-ordination centre in April 2008, its aim being to combat organised crime along the Bulgarian-Greek frontier. Reportedly, the centre is staffed 24 hours by Bulgarian and Greek border police.

In theory, this is supposed to provide authorities with "a greater flow of real-time information" as well as greater co-ordination and efficiency. It will provide access to information banks in both countries, linking them with border police and transport administration authorities.