A Greek border guard has been shot while on duty patrolling Evros, a section of the Greek-Turkish border where undocumented migrants attempt to enter the European Union, Greek police have said.
The border guard was shot in the abdomen on Saturday and sustained non-life-threatening injuries. He was on duty with three other Greek border guard officers along the Evros River—the land border with Türkiye—at around 6pm, when three of four shots were heard coming from the Turkish side, police said.
One of the border guards was hit by a bullet in the lower abdomen and taken to a hospital in the town of Didymoteicho, where he was operated on, police said. Police added that the injured officer was in a stable, non-life-threatening condition.
According to Greek media, police officials believe the shooter or shooters were likely human traffickers. A statement from the police said the bullet was fired from a pistol.
The officers on patrol had noticed some movement on the Turkish side. However, it could not be determined how many people there were, as their view was blocked by dense vegetation.
More border guards arrived on the site afterwards, and, as such, no crossing was made.
Efforts to protect border at Evros
In early 2023, the Citizen Protection Ministry decided to hire 400 more border guards to patrol in Evros. Takis Theodorikakos, head of the ministry, made the announcement.
Greece, he said, “is not prepared to accept even one irregular migrant.” Theodorikakos also reprimanded Turkey for aiding illegal migrants in 2022 in their attempt to reach the Greek borders. “Stop exploiting migrants and respect the Greek borders, which are also the borders of Europe,” he said in addressing Turkey.
The increase in border police officers was the second in three years, the last having occurred in 2020. At that time, the government employed another 400 new guards to protect the northeastern area of Evros.
It upgraded the ten-kilometer fence separating the two borders to twenty-six kilometers as well after a tidal wave of illegal migrants sought to cross from Turkey in February and March of that year.
The Greek government additionally worked with local fishermen to help patrol the canals, lagoons, and tributaries.
Theodorikakos spoke out on last year’s attempt to protect Greece’s borders as an antecedent of the future strengthening of measures to come.
According to the minister, more than 260,000 migrants tried to enter Greece illegally in 2022. They were stopped by the more than 1,800 border police officers still on active duty in Evros. They also caught over 1,400 individuals trafficking migrants.
