SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Greece will boost border fortifications along its northern border with Turkey by extending cement and barbed-wire fences, the Ministry of Citizen Protection on Tuesday said.
The Greek Ministry said that Greece planned to construct more border fences on its northern border, aiming to prevent further migration flow into the country from Turkey.
The fence is currently 40- kilometers long but Greece has planned to extend it by adding 140 more kilometers of cement and barbed-wire fences, a Senior Greek official said.
The fence’s last upgrade to make it longer took place in 2021 since its installation in 2012.
The recent upgrade came after when Turkey said that it would no longer prevent asylum seekers to cross into the European Union through Greece’s northern border.
In the upcoming plan, the Greek government will hire 250 more border guards and boost its surveillance systems in the area.
The two NATO allies, Turkey and Greece, have historic rivalries which are shaped by a wide range of issues including the migration crisis and energy resources issues in recent years.
Greece was at the forefront of those countries that have been battered by Europe’s migration crisis in 2015 and 2016 when a million refugees fleeing war and poverty from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan arrived, mainly via Turkey.
The number of migration cross has fallen sharply since then, in the meantime, a significant number of people have been prevented to enter the country in recent months, according to Greek authorities.
In the first seven months of the year, authorities arrested 7,484 refugees and migrants, of which 3,554 were in Evros northern region, sharing a border with turkey, a data from the police said.
