Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis asked the European Union (EU) on Friday (03.31.2023) to “seriously consider” granting financial aid to erect a steel fence to stop migrants at the border with Turkey.
“I think it is time for the EU to seriously consider providing European funds for this type of project,” said the head of government, as part of a visit to announce the construction of a fence in Feres, in northeastern Greece.
“After all, we are contributing to European security and we are also contributing to a more integrated and effective European asylum policy,” he added.
Athens decided to extend a 5-meter-high steel fence by 35 kilometers on the banks of the Evros River, which marks the border with Turkey. The fence is currently 37.5 km long and Athens wants to extend it to 100 km by 2026.
Migrants temporarily live in abandoned train carriages near the city of Thessaloniki. Almost all of them come from Turkey and walk through the so-called Balkan Route to reach different countries in Europe.
Mitsotakis said the project, estimated at 100 million euros ($108 million), will go ahead with or without European funding.
“What you see here is an obstacle that the Greek government has built to protect the borders of a country that are also the external borders of the European Union,” the prime minister said.
But “what you see has been financed exclusively from the Greek budget, by Greek taxpayers,” he added.
The debate over financing these barriers surfaced again at a European summit in February, with countries like Austria and Greece calling for EU funds to be earmarked for these projects.
But in January, the European Commission had insisted on its position not to spend part of the EU budget on border fences.
jc (afp, ap)
