infomigrants.net | 23 December 2021
Greece to fortify border to stop migrants, seeks EU funds
The Greek government has said it will renew a request for EU funds in 2022 to extend the border wall along its frontier with Turkey. It also wants to expand its surveillance network to stop migrants from entering the country irregularly.
The Greek 'minister of citizen protection' told a parliamentary committee that Greece expects some countries bordering the EU to continue to exploit migration to exert political pressure on European Union member states.
The minister cited the recent crisis in Belarus on its border with Poland and other EU members.
"We have every reason to expect that these kinds of threats will continue,'' Takis Theodorikakos said during the parliamentary briefing held Friday and made public Monday (December 12).
Greece, which shares a land border with non-EU country Turkey, has toughened its migration policy in recent years. A 26-kilometer extension of a steel border wall was introduced recently. The barrier now spans 38 kilometers.