Greece’s Determined Defense of Evros Border Forces Migrants Away

Greek authorities believe that Turkey has started to evacuate the migrants sent to the border in the northeastern Evros region to try to cross over into Europe.

Shortly after midnight on Thursday, migrants who have been camping out on the Turkish side of the fence collected their tents and other objects and set them on fire inside the forest of Kastanies.

Καστανιες, πρώτες πρωινές ώρες..
Λαθρομεταναστες έχουν βάλει φωτιές παντού με τις Ελληνικές αρχές να βρίσκονται σε ετοιμότητα #Εβρος pic.twitter.com/ur1UD2SbB9

— Ακροκεντρώος (@akrokentrwos) March 27, 2020

Greek authorities also observed great numbers of migrants boarding buses, possibly to return to Istanbul.

Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos and the head of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff (GEETHA) Konstantinos Floros will be in Evros later in the day today.

GEETHA sources said Greece maintains its high alert and continues to monitor the situation as the forest in Kastanies is dense and it could be used as a cover for staging a diversion tactic.

Later on Friday, Greek Premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis held a teleconference with other officials to assess the situation. There, Mitsotakis noted that ”A chapter may be closing, but this battle continues, you should have no doubt about this.”

Mitsotakis also said that ”We have achieved and secured a very important acquis on behalf of the country and on behalf of Europe: The ability to safeguard our land and sea borders.”