“With the construction of the upgrade and expansion works at the Kipi Border Crossing in Evros, and later the construction of the new large bridge, we will acquire the entry and exit point to Turkey that our country deserves,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during his visit to the project site.

He added that “the truth is that the current image of the Border Crossing does not honor us as a country.”

The Prime Minister was briefed on the progress of the works — which are proceeding on schedule — by Dimitris Galamatis, Secretary of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia–Thrace, and his associates. The €13 million project is funded by the Ministry of the Interior, with the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia–Thrace overseeing its implementation.

The upgrade and expansion project will separate passenger traffic from commercial crossings. It also предусматриes the creation of an additional customs inspection lane and the construction of a veterinary inspection building, a phytosanitary control building, an X-ray facility, a Narcotics Control building, a working dog unit compound, and ISOBOX facilities for customs inspections.

Present at the visit were Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrysochoidis; Deputy Ministers to the Prime Minister Thanasis Kontogeorgis; Deputy Minister of the Interior (Macedonia and Thrace sector) Kostas Gkioulekas; Deputy Minister of Digital Governance Christos Dermetzopoulos; Members of Parliament Tasos Dimosschakis and Stavros Keletzis; Secretary of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia–Thrace Dimitris Galamatis; Coordinator of the Prime Minister’s Office in Macedonia Elena Sokou; Regional Governor of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Christodoulos Topsidis; and Director of the Kipi Customs Office Christos Nakos.

Before visiting the construction site, the Prime Minister stopped at the military outpost at the Kipi Bridge, where he spoke with officers and recalled that it was around this time — Clean Monday in 2020 — when Greece faced the migrant pressure crisis along the Greek-Turkish border on the Evros River.

He said he was proud of how Greece repelled that challenge and of the handling of the situation at the time, adding: “Since then, of course, much has changed in the way Europe understands the protection of its borders.”