Migration takes elections center stage

The fence along the Evros River bordering Turkey has been elevated to the status of a key election issue that highlights the migration problem.

The effective management of security at the country’s borders, given the experience of the instrumentalization of migratory flows from Turkey, is being prioritized by the government against the positions of main opposition SYRIZA, which are often characterized by a more relaxed approach.

To this end, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is traveling to Evros on Friday to send a message about the importance the government attaches to the issue.

On Thursday Mitsotakis clarified his intentions in a speech in Gerakas, stressing that “with or without European money, the fence on the Evros will be completed.”

He made his remarks as the government accused SYRIZA MEP Dimitris Papadimoulis of tabling an amendment in the European Parliament calling for the funding for the construction of fences on the external borders of the EU to be halted. This would also impact Greece as a natural border of the EU. 

Mitsotakis took the opportunity to remind everyone “who is against this difficult effort to secure the country’s borders” that the government will not let the opportunity provided by Papadimoulis’ amendment go to waste and in view of the elections is placing security and migration issues high on the agenda.

Tellingly, speaking to reporters on Thursday, government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou placed the migration issue at the core of his briefing, noting that in 2015, three quarters (75%) of migratory flows to Europe passed through Greece, while in 2022, only 5% entered.

“The intention of the opposition is clear: to return the country in terms of migration and refugees to the state of chaos we lived through under their time in office,” he said. 

Well aware that the migration issue could thwart its effort to reach out to centrist voters, SYRIZA was quick to clarify on Thursday that the party “does not oppose the fence in Evros, but it does not consider that it contributes substantially to addressing the refugee/migration problem.”

“Therefore, [SYRIZA] considers other measures necessary, such as the existence in Turkey of a legal and safe resettlement and migration route for refugees and migrants, distributed in a fair way to EU countries, or the implementation of the return mechanism to Turkey for those who are not entitled to asylum.”