OREANDA-NEWS. The Greek government decided to lengthen by 40 kilometers a high metal fence on the border with Turkey, which illegal migrants are trying to skirt in order to enter the territory of Greece.

This was announced on March 6 by an official representative of the cabinet, Stelios Petsas, on the air of Antenna television channel. According to him, at the first stage, it was decided to “lengthen the existing fence in the Evros area by about 40 kilometers,” which is currently stretched over 12.5 kilometers of the border near the Kastanies checkpoint.

A three-meter-high fence with barbed wire at the top is a serious deterrent to thousands of illegal immigrants who have accumulated on the Turkish side near the Greek border in recent days amid reports spread by Turkey that its border with European Union is open. Turkish military and police help migrants make gaps in the fence, and Greek security forces block the holes daily. Migrants also try to boat, and sometimes swim, to cross the river, which in other places runs along the Greek-Turkish border.