A new steel barrier on Greece’s northeastern border with Turkey to dissuade migration will be ready by April 2021, the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said on Saturday as he visited the area.
“The construction of a new border fence at Evros was the least the government could do to provide a sense of security to Greek citizens, whose morale remains high at such a difficult juncture,” Mitsotakis said.
The Prime Minister made the statement with the Eastern Macedonia/Thrace Regional Director, directly after a detailed presentation in the town of Feres on the progress of the fence’s construction.
The government is also hiring an additional 400 border guards for the northeastern Evros area and will upgrade an existing 10 kilometre stretch of the border fence.
READ MORE: Greece strengthens defence of Evros border with blade wire fence and 400 new guards.
The 26 kilometre barrier in Evros was announced after Turkey in March decided not to prevent migrants from crossing the Greek border, which led to thousands arriving to cross into the EU via Greece.
Greek security forces were deployed to prevent people from entering at the time. The EU border agency Frontex was also stationed at the Greek-Turkish border.
READ MORE: TGH Exclusive: Evros border guards empowered by support of Greek diaspora.
