Greece "Seals" its Borders for Migrants
The Greek government is beginning to implement a plan to "seal" borders as effectively as possible after the recent sharp increase in migrant and refugee flows to the country, Kathimerini writes.
The operational plan includes the deployment of 5 more vessels in the eastern Aegean to strengthen the coastguard, which already has 45 vessels in the region. 100 Coast Guard personnel will depart for the islands of Lesbos and Chios as ship crews.
The Ministry of Defense will provide staff for old ground checkpoints to monitor the traffic along Turkish shores. The ground forces will provide patrol vessels to the Coast Guard. However, their crews will be from the Coast Guard, not the Navy, because they will serve police functions.
Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos stressed that the big problem was at the maritime, not the land borders, because the land border between Greece and Turkey will be "sealed" anyway soon and no one will be able to get through it.