Greece's Police Chief to inspect Evros border with Turkey ahead of 140 km extension

Greece's Police Chief  Lieutenant General Constantine Skoumas will accompany Citizen Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos on an inspection tour of the  borders at Evros on Tuesday, to review security measures by the Greek police.

Theodorikakos will be briefed on the "Akritas" plan to guard the borders with Turkey and build an extension of 140 kilometers to the border fence, currently 37.5 km long.

Theodorikakos will start his tour from the regional center of the airport, travel to Feres, meet with special units and police officials, as well as with regional and local officials. He will make statements to the press at Poros and then pay a visit to Outpost 126, where the new extension of the border fence is scheduled to begin. He will also visit the Evros islet where 38 migrants were stranded in August.

"We have to help all our partners understand that the Greek borders are the borders of the Western world with Turkey," the minister said, adding that "their security is of top strategic importance."

Migrant flows in the past few months has also worsened, he said, compared to 2020, and Greece faces repeated waves of people trying to enter the country along the Evros River borers. "If police had not done its job properly, over 35,000 undocumented migrants would have entered the country in August alone," he said.