Greece to Expand Evros Border Fence With Turkey

The 35-kilometre extension of the Evros fence is estimated to cost the state budget a hundred million euros.

The Greek government is ready to proceed with the gradual expansion of the fence barrier along the entire length of the Evros border with Turkey, Citizen Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos said in an interview with private network Skai TV on Saturday.

Greece has already built a forty-kilometre (25-mile) fence near the Evros River crossing at the border with Turkey to prevent illegal migrants from entering the country, and a decision to extend the fence along the entire border with Turkey was reached last August.

According to Theodorikakos, a study on the first immediate fence extension by a further thirty-five kilometres has been completed by the Citizen Protection Ministry and the Ministry of Defense. It is currently pending approval by the Ministry of Finance.

The 35-kilometre extension of the Evros fence is estimated to cost the state budget a hundred million euros.

Once the Ministry of Finance has formal approval, the project will move forward "through a quick and immediate tender."

The Minister told the interview that over 250,000 illegal migrants were prevented from entering Greece through the Evros border in 2022, as per official data.

Last May, Athens was reportedly looking for EU funds to finance an eighty-kilometre fence extension across the Evros River. This led to a debate about whether the EU should finance border fences and walls for its member states.

In August, Greek officials agreed to gradually expand the fence barrier and assigned related ministries and the National Defense General Staff to prioritize which fence sections should be built first through a bidding process.

In 2020, Turkey said it was throwing open its western borders to migrants who wanted to travel on to Europe. Greece stepped up frontier security to prevent thousands of people from breaking through in the Evros region and expanded the existing fence.