Scenes resembling the First World War are unfolding are unfolding on Europe’s frontier, with Greek border forces bathed in noxious fumes as Turkish police and, allegedly, Turkish-armed migrants bombard them with tear gas.

The Islamist president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was believed to have bought the border crisis to an end by deciding that he would not keep his side of the Graeco-Turkish frontier open for illegal migrants wishing to break into Europe anymore last Wednesday, due to the risk spreading coronavirus.

However, it seems that thousands of migrants remain at the border regardless, and that Turkish personnel are continuing to support their efforts to punch through Greece’s protective fences — not least by bombarding their Greek counterparts with tear gas in social media footage which has been circulated by the Greek press.

Όλα αυτά έγιναν πριν λίγες ώρες στις Καστανιές Έβρου.Πλέον δεν υπάρχουν λαθρομετανάστες στα σύνορα, όλοι είναι οι πραιτοριανοί του Ερντογάν.

Είμαστε σε σύγκρουση πλέον.Η σκέψη όλων μας σε αυτούς που κρατάνε Θερμοπύλες!🙏🇷#Greece_under_attack#απαγορευσηκυκλοφοριας#Έβρος #Evros pic.twitter.com/Bw4JgTjs2L — Νίκος🇷Σωτηροπουλος (@NIKSOTIROPOYLOS) March 23, 2020

Footage shot from the Greek side of the border and shared by Greek media outlet Proto Thema appears to show Greek personnel and army amublances bathed in noxious fumes in scenes reminiscent of the infamous gas attacks on the trenches of the First World War following one such bombardment.

The Greeks have themselves used tear gas to try and repel illegal aliens hurling rocks and petrol bombs at them, or attempting to tear down or otherwise dismantle border fencing — but recent videos show a number of migrants at the fences now appear to have been supplied with gas masks so they can sustain their attacks on the border regardless.

Turkish officials have previously claimed that at least 100,000 migrants have been released into Greece, but the Greek government disputes this, saying they have successfully held back tens of thousands and estimating the number who have made it through the land border in the hundreds.

Their task has not been made easier by the European Union’s past refusal to provide funding for robust border fences, which the bloc denounced as “pointless”.

“We are against building walls,” declared then-European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs, and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, as recently as 2018.

FLASHBACK: ‘We Are Against Building Walls’ – EU Refused to Fund ‘Pointless’ Greek Border Fence Before Crises https://t.co/DvRQmDrg0V — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 16, 2020

Follow Jack Montgomery on Twitter: @JackBMontgomery