14th Mar 2025
“Communication and Information Systems” Directorate /DCIS/ is a beneficiary of a project, funded by the Internal Security Fund, which will provide the necessary technical and program funds at the air borders of the Republic of Bulgaria for the implementation of EU Regulation 2226/2017. As part of the Smart Borders initiative, the European Parliament and EULisa (European Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale Information Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice) will create a common biometric database for the Entry / Exit System (EES) for the registration of all traveling nationals from third countries. From 2022, passengers from third countries will have to register or validate their fingerprint and face image when entering the Schengen area through land, sea and air borders.
Through a recently completed tender procedure, the DCIS at the Ministry of Interior selected the IT company SSARM as the contractor to supply the necessary equipment of the leading company Secunet. Delivery and installation of 20 automated border control electronic gates, including face and fingerprint checks, as well as 8 terminals for self-registration of passengers from third countries are expected. For the existing border control counters, 66 specialized automatic cameras will be installed, as well as fingerprint scanners for high-quality biometric imaging - face images and fingerprints.
The components of the Entry / Exit System will be installed at the airports in Sofia, Varna and Bourgas. The integration with the central Entry/Exit system will be carried out through the functioning information system in the Republic of Bulgaria - AIS "Border Control" by a qualified team from DCIS - software application developers and system administrators.
Automated systems, as well as self-service systems, play a key role in reducing the additional effort and time required for biometric border entry, as required by the Entry/Exit System. New generation equipment and the provision of system integrations will simplify and speed up the border control process. This is crucial to ensure reliable and effective identification at border crossing points of all EU Member States, given the scale and volume of data in the central Entry / Exit system, which will contain approximately 300 million records of third-country nationals.
The project "Upgrading the automatic system" Border Control "(AIS GC) on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria in accordance with Regulation 2226/2017 and the European Entry / Exit (EES)" is very important for us and will position Bulgaria as one of the first countries in the EU with real implementation of a solution for automatic border control, corresponding to the requirements of the Entry / Exit system. We will do everything in our power to make this project a reality as soon as possible, trying to be one of the first in the EU to have a project done. We will continue our efforts to finalize the overall implementation of the Land Borders. ", mentioned Mr. Mladen Petrov, Director of the Directorate" Communication and Information Systems "at the Ministry of Interior.
The project is expected to be completed by mid-2021.