Chryssochoidis announces 5km expansion of border fence

Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chryssochoidis announced on Monday the extension of the border fence along the Meriç (Evros) River by an additional 5 kilometres in the Sofullu (Soufli) area, citing a marked reduction in illegal border crossings in the region.

Accoirding to AMNA, during a high-level meeting in Sofullu (Soufli), which included senior officials from the Hellenic Police and the heads of the Kumçiftliği (Orestiada) and Dedeağaç (Alexandroupolis) police departments, updated figures showed a significant year-on-year decrease in migrant arrests at the border.

According to data presented, 2,518 migrants were arrested for illegal entry into Greece in the first seven months of 2025, down from 3,421 during the same period in 2024. Across the wider region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, arrests fell from 3,629 to 2,877 over the same time frame.

Officials attributed the decline to increased patrols, the completion of key segments of the border fence, the deployment of an integrated e-surveillance system, and a rise in the number of border police officers, which now total nearly 2,000.
 
Minister Chryssochoidis stressed the strategic importance of closing off vulnerable points. “We will expand fence construction for another 5 kilometres here, in this area we are today, so that we can close up a series of critical and vulnerable points selected by Armed Forces and Hellenic Police officers,” he stated.

Chryssochoidis emphasised that border protection goes beyond infrastructure. “Guarding the borders is not simply an engineering project or a technical issue. It is primarily a matter of patriotic duty,” he said, underlining that the initiative addresses “what all Greeks demand – security, the protection of borders, legality, and ultimately, respect for international law.”