Greece expands fence along border with Turkey
BY| dw
Greece will almost double the length of the 5-meter (16-foot)-high steel fence on its border with Turkey amid concerns over a surge of migrants.
Around 400 people try to enter Greece illegally from Turkey every day, Greek Civil Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos said on Saturday.
According to him, Greek border guards stopped more than 260,000 people from entering illegally in 2022. They also arrested 1,500 suspected traffickers.
The 37.5-kilometer border fence is to be extended by another 35 kilometers along the Evros River, called Meric in Turkey.
“The task (of protecting the border) needs the support … of European public opinion, the European Union itself and its constituent members individually,” Theodorikakos said.
Greece says illegal migration affects whole EU
Theodorikakos took ambassadors from other European Union countries, as well as Switzerland and the United Kingdom, on a tour of the construction, emphasizing Greece’s border is also the EU’s external border.
“It is our steadfast position that member states of first reception cannot be (the migrants’) only European destinations,” Theodorikakos said.
“There must be solidarity among member-states and a fair sharing of duties…close coordination is a must,” he added.
The Greek minister’s sentiments were echoed by Cypriot Ambassador Kyriakos Kenevezos, who spoke of the “need for understanding” from countries that don’t have external EU borders.
Current EU regulations call on the EU state where an asylum-seeker first arrives to process the person’s application for refuge.
Concerns about migrants’ plight
The United Kingdom’s ambassador, Matthew Lodge, said “our priority is to protect the human life and dignity endangered by the criminal trafficking networks … even though we are no longer an EU member, we are closely cooperating.”
Turkey has repeatedly accused Greece of pushbacks that endanger the lives of migrants seeking a better life in Europe.
Greece has accused Turkey of weaponizing the plight of migrants by encouraging them to cross the border into the EU or return to their home countries.
The EU’s border protection agency, Frontex, will add another 400 guards in Greece to the existing 1,800-member force protecting the border.
