ATHENS – Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis on Friday evening emphasized how “we send a strong message to everyone, that Greece is protecting its borders and that Greece is a secure country,” during his visit at the northern Greek border region of Evros where a large number of refugees gathered on Friday.

Chrisochoidis was accompanied by the chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS) General Konstantinos Floros, in the framework of the government’s decisions to boost measures for the surveillance of borders to prevent a new wave of refugees and migrants entering Greece, following recent developments in Syria.

“Our response is that the country accepts and welcomes all those who have legal travel documents, but we cannot accept third-country nationals who do not have legal documents,” he underlined.

He further noted that the country’s borders “are inviolate, so there is no reason for people to gather at our borders and customs, waiting to enter Greek, European territory.”