



The Greek government announced on Sunday that it will call an extraordinary Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense in Athens, amid rising tensions on the country’s border with Turkey.

The meeting, which will be held at 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT), will have as its sole issue the border emergency in Evros and the Eastern Aegean Sea.

The Council, which is known by the acronym KYSEA, is the supreme decision-making body on issues of foreign policy and national defense in Greece.

”Our Borders Are Guarded Well,” Defense Minister Says

Meanwhile, speaking from the border village of Kastanies in Evros, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos declared today that the Greek borders are well guarded.

“We saw that borders are well guarded and well protected. I would like to congratulate all the forces operating from the police, military and coast guard personnel who, for two nights now, have been doing their duty to safeguard the inviolability of the Greek borders, which are also the borders of Europe,” Panagiotopoulos said.

Asked about the possibility of further units being brought to Evros, the Defense Minister said that the government will do whatever is necessary.

Reports of Greek Demand for Emergency FRONTEX Assistance

The Greek Police and Coast Guard are going to submit a request to the European Union’s Frontex border agency for emergency assistance in guarding the Greek (and therefore the EU’s) border with Turkey, Greece’s Kathimerini daily reported on Sunday.

According to the newspaper’s report, the Greek Police and Coast Guard will ask for assistance in materiel and personnel in order to deal with the unprecedented situation at the border, as well as the activation of the Rapid Border Intervention Mechanism.

If the European Union accepts Greece’s requests, FRONTEX will have a maximum of ten days to deliver on these requests.



