GREECE AND THE EVROS BORDER: SECURITY, RIGHTS AND RELATIONS WITH TURKEY

Resumo

This article aims to analyze the Evros River border, which separates Greece from Turkey, as one of the main areas of tension in the European Union's migration and security policy. This region has become a symbol of the securitization of European borders, where controlling irregular migration is often prioritized over protecting human rights. After the 2015 migration crisis, when Turkey announced the opening of its borders, Greece significantly strengthened security measures in Evros, including the construction of fences, the use of surveillance technologies, and an increased military and police presence. These measures reflect a security narrative that frames migration as a threat to national sovereignty and stability. At the same time, reports of human rights violations, such as illegal returns, arbitrary detentions, and excessive use of force, have multiplied, raising serious questions about the compatibility of Greek and European policies with international law and European Union law. The analysis is based on official European Union documents, reports from human rights organizations, and the international legal framework applicable to the protection of refugees and asylum seekers. The article argues that Evros functions not only as a border for containing migration, but also as a functional space of exception, in which restrictive and legally ambiguous practices tend to be normalized in the name of European stability and security. It further argues that this model is reinforced by the European Union's political, financial, and operational support to Greece, as part of a logic of outsourcing and delegating migration governance to peripheral states. Thus, the case of Evros highlights a structural mismatch between security imperatives, geopolitical interests, and legal commitments, revealing the internal contradictions of the European project in the management of its external borders.