Political geography

Greece will take steps to secure its land border with Turkey, also by completing the extension of a fence to the southern section of the Evros River, to stop migrants from crossing into the European Union, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said Wednesday, accusing Ankara of conducting a "hybrid" warfare against Greece and the EU.

A Turkish patrol boat sailed into Greek waters on Thursday and made dangerous maneuvers close to a ship belonging to the European border agency Frontex and also near a Greek fishing boat, the Shipping Ministry in Athens said.

Approximately 38,200 people, Romanian and foreign citizens, with over 22,400 means of transport, of which 15,800 trucks, passed through the border checkpoints of the entire country in the last 24 hours.

Greece's Financial Crimes Squad (SDOE) has confiscated 850,000 poor quality face masks at Athens' International Airport, the head of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue announced on Monday.

A deputy minister said only four border crossings out of six in northern Greece should open for tourists as the government prepares to ease restrictions on travel, saying the others lack the necessary infrastructure to conduct customs and possible health checks on arriving visitors.

Athens on Wednesday responded to fresh claims by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu that the sovereignty of certain Greek islands and islets "is not clear" and dismissing last weekend's incident over the eastern Aegean.

The Minister of Health issued an order imposing a temporary ban on entry into the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria of persons and vehicles entering the country from the Republic of Turkey through the following border checkpoints: Lesovo - Hamzabeyli, Kapitan Andreevo - Kapıkule, Malko Tarnovo.

Turkey's "defenses and are not weak" and it will "not tolerate" any purported violations of its sovereign rights, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday, accusing Greece of breaching international law by keeping troops on the islands of the eastern Aegean.

The crowding reported at the entrance to Romania shifted from the Nadlac II Border Crossing Point (PTF) to the Nadlac I PTF where, on Friday morning, the waiting time was four hours.

The Council of Ministers has defined the border points on Bulgarian territory through which unobstructed passage of commodities will be ensured. The plan for securing "green corridors" along the European road network has been proposed by the Minister for Transport, Information Technology and Communications. It complies with the guidelines of the European Commission of 16 March 2020.