Greece seeks tougher EU migration policies as it braces for impact of Mideast wars

ATHENS, Greece — Greece is seeking stricter European Union migration policies as it braces for a potential surge in migrants and refugees due to ongoing war in the Middle East, a senior government official said Wednesday.

Migration Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said the government is considering creating detention facilities on the islands of Rhodes and Crete after the rate of arrivals by sea has more than doubled, starting last fall.

“Based on current data, we project that by year’s end, approximately 50,000 migrants will have entered our country,” Panagiotopoulos told private Action 24 television. Existing migrant camps on Greek islands are currently at full capacity, he said, but mainland facilities are at around 60%.

The minister said migrants are coming mostly from the Turkish coastline but also from North African routes with arrivals affected by Middle East conflicts. But he added: “We are certainly seeing some flow from Lebanon, but we haven’t yet seen the surge we might expect from a full-scale conflict there.”

Panagiotopoulos, a former defense minister, said Greece is seeking stricter migration policies under European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ’s second term, but not a departure from the current negotiating framework.

A landmark EU migration pact agreed on this year is expected to take effect in mid-2026, following a new round of negotiations. Greek officials say they are seeking amendments to create more robust deportation policies and tougher external border controls.

“We’re seeking a European solution, firmly grounded in the framework of the European Migration and Asylum Pact,” Panagiotopoulos said.

“The European Union spent eight years negotiating it and it was finally approved," he said. “We now, gradually, must begin moving to the implementation phase.”