KASTANIES, Evros – Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the heads of the European Union’s top legislative, executive and political institutions on Tuesday visited the Evros region on the Greek border and were briefed on the events taking place there since last Friday, with the migrants and refugees massing on the Turkish side of the border.

Mitsotakis, European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President David Sassoli, European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas, the prime minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenkovic, and Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic visited military guard post 1 in Kastanies, which is closest to the Greek-Turkish border, and were briefed by Hellenic National Defence General Staff chief, General Konstantinos Floros.

Army officers at the gaurd post also showed them the military vehicles damaged by objects – such as stones and Turkish-made smoke grenades – thrown by the migrants and refugees from the other side of the border during clashes with Greek forces.

They also went to the spot that there is mass gathering of people that want to enter Greece and afterwards returned to the guardpost and a video was screened providing evidence that the pressure at the Greek borders is being manipulated by Turkey.

Mitsotakis was at Alexandroupolis airport on Tuesday to greet the European officials upon their arrival. They were then flown to the guard post by helicopter, along the Greek-Turkish border, and landed in Orestiada.

The Greek prime minister and the heads of the EU bodies then held a joint press conference at the cultural centre of Kastanies.