Greek authorities announced today, Sunday, their intention to build a temporary iron fence near the Turkish border to prevent illegal migrants from entering the country. Greek media reported that Chief of Staff Konstantinos Floros ordered the construction of a temporary fence in the village of Yeni Bosna at the Turkish border, following an increase in the number of illegal migrants entering the country recently.
In 2020, Greece established a 37-kilometer steel fence in the northeast of the country after attempts by tens of thousands of migrants to cross illegally. The government has pledged to extend the barrier by an additional 35 kilometers before the end of the year. Earlier this year, Greek Minister of Citizen Protection Takis Theodorikakos announced that the country would build a 180-kilometer fence to isolate it from its neighbor Turkey.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis urged the European Union in April to seriously consider funding the expansion of the fence along the land border between Greece and Turkey. Greece faces daily attempts at infiltration from Turkish territory as well as from the Aegean Sea, and it is working on multiple fronts to counter the pressures of migrant flows, while facing international human rights criticisms and allegations of wide-scale violations that have led to the deaths of several migrants.
