Evros

Greek authorities on Wednesday rescued a group of 39 migrants who had been abandoned by smugglers on an islet in the river that runs along the country's land border with Turkey, police said.

A police statement said the 13 men, 11 women and 15 children had been ferried across in a plastic boat from the Turkish side of the Evros river.

Six more irregular migrants were killed in a road accident near Alexandroupoli in northern Greece on the eve of Easter. In addition to the migrants, a local man was also killed because he happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. The vehicle transporting the migrants at high speed in the opposite traffic lane collided with his vehicle and overturned.

The way has been paved for EU funding of border infrastructure such as the Evros fence in northeastern Greece after an amendment introduced by the European People's Party was voted through in Strasbourg. 

The Migration and Asylum Ministry and the EU are co-financing the recruitment of 150 new border guards with funds from the Integrated Border Management Fund - Border Management and Visa Instrument (2021-27).

The new guards will bolster the operational capabilities of the police directorates of Rodopi and Kavala in northern Greece.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called on SYRIZA to take a clear stance about the the construction of the fence on the Evros land border with Turkey. 

"With or without European money, the fence on the Evros will be completed," said the Greek Prime Minister, who is from the ranks of conservatives, reports the portal Euractiv, which reminds that Greece has already built a 37.5 kilometer long fence on the Evros River, but that it plans to expand it by much more.

The fence along the Evros River bordering Turkey has been elevated to the status of a key election issue that highlights the migration problem.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday a fence being constructed at Greece's northeastern border region of Evros will be completed "with or without European money."

Protecting Greece's borders requires the support of the European Union, the country's Citizens' Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos told 27 foreign ambassadors during a visit in the northeastern town of Alexandroupoli, where he briefed them about the Akritas plan to protect the border with Turkey at Evros.

Greek Citizens' Protection Minister Takis Theodorikakos will meet in the northeastern town of Alexandroupoli on Saturday with 27 ambassadors of EU member-states associated with the Schengen Treaty and of the UK to brief them about the Akritas plan to protect the border with Turkey at Evros.