A cross-border police cooperation agreement was signed in Sofia on Wednesday by visiting Greek Citizens' Protection Minister Mihalis Chryssohoidis and Bulgarian Interior Minister Cvetan Cvetanov.

The agreement aims at combating cross-border organized crime through a framework of closer cooperation and information exchange.

Speaking to reporters, Chrysohoidis characterized the two countries as "strategic allies," and reaffirmed Greece’s support to Bulgaria’s bid to join the Schengen area. He stated that after the recent inauguration of the Zlatograd-Thermes border crossing in Thrace, northeast Greece, by the premiers of the two countries "we will guarantee the free movement of people."

Ministry of Citizen Protection: "Surveillance of the external borders of the EU and control of legal immigration"; Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Greece-Bulgaria Bilateral Relations