Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will be visiting the border region of Evros on Tuesday, the PM's office announced on Monday.
Mitsotakis will be accompanied by the leaders of the European Union's top three institutions - European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Parliament President David Sassoli.
Mitsotakis had announced his intention to visit the area with Michel in a tweet on Sunday evening, after chairing a meeting of the Government Council on National Security (KYSEA).
EU Commission President @vonderleyen and @EP_President David Sassoli will join @eucopresident Charles Michel and me tomorrow on the Greek-Turkish land border.
Important statement of support by all 3 institutions at a time when Greece is successfully defending EU borders.
🇬🇷🇪🇺— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) March 2, 2020
"Our national security council has taken the decision to increase the level of deterrence at our borders to the maximum. As of now we will not be accepting any new asylum applications for 1 month. We are invoking article 78.3 of the TFEU to ensure full European support," the PM tweeted.
In a follow-up tweet, he wrote "The borders of Greece are the external borders of Europe. We will protect them. I will be visiting the #Evros land border with Turkey along with Charles Michel @eucopresident on Tuesday. Once more, do not attempt to enter Greece illegally - you will be turned back."
Michel also confirmed the planned visit and expressed his support for Greece's efforts to protect the European borders. "Support for Greek efforts to protect the European borders. Closely monitoring the situation on the ground. I will be visiting the Greek-Turkish border on Tuesday with @PrimeministerGR Mitsotakis," he tweeted.
