MARA ZAHAREA: After the Turkish Minister of Interior Soylu declared that he will deploy a thousand armed Special Operations personnel, what will that mean and how will the Greek side respond?

ALKIVIADIS STEFANIS: We have been informed on this and we are analyzing it. We are waiting to see its implementation. We have witnessed lately a series of things that were declared, only to be proven untruthful; fake news that we hear every day:

• First, that the immigrants come from Idlib; it was proven that they are not from Idlib.

• Second, that there are people shot dead in the region of Evros. It was proven wrong; there were never any shootings.

• It was announced that almost 134 thousands have crossed the borders; however, this has never happened. We have analysed this information, we have heard it and we shall see the development, having of course done our own planning.

MARA ZAHAREA: Will our borders be further reinforced?

ALKIVIADIS STEFANIS: The borders have already been reinforced since the first day, since 28 February and thereafter, with Hellenic Police forces, as well as with Armed Forces’ units. We shall wait to see how will this develop and respond accordingly. In no case are we escalating the situation.

We are waiting to see how these forces will be used, shall they arrive. I believe that they might have a dual use: At first, they will assuage the reactions starting to rise in Edirne, where they see the immigrants flowing in and not crossing into Greece, thus restricting trade and causing an increase of criminality in the area. Subsequently, they might try to stop the immigrants from pushbacks they assume that are taking place? We shall analyse that.

MARA ZAHAREA: However, as they have deployed 1,000 armed Turks along the borders, while we have our men on our side, are you not concerned about a hot incident occurring at the borders?

ALKIVIADIS STEFANIS: We are not concerned about something. We analyse the situation each time and we respond accordingly. It will not escalate at a level so as to produce a hot incident, yet –shall it occur– we are capable of responding.

We do not, in any way, seek or try to produce a hot incident. What is important now is to try and resolve the situation in a way that will not make things worse.

MARA ZAHAREA: Yes, however this situation is not resolved yet. Erdogan escalates this hybrid, may I say, war against our country…

ALKIVIADIS STEFANIS: I would like to remind you our planning until now was completed since December 16, so when this happened, on February 28, we were ready. This proves that our planning was correct.

We faced its first impact, we controlled 24,000 people. The rest were given severe sentences and were treated as criminals, since they illegally entered a country. The same thing happens in the islands as well.

We expect an increase to Erdogan’s pressure towards us. I believe that our positions and analyses are such that, in the end, we will succeed to our goal.

MARA ZAHAREA: What about the islands? I can certainly comprehend that it is far harder patrolling and controlling our sea borders than our land borders.

ALKIVIADIS STEFANIS: Currently, we have further reinforced our islands with helicopters and 62 vessels deployed in the area; vessels from the Coast Guard, the Hellenic Navy, the Special Forces, Frontex and NATO.

At the same time, we have increased and enhanced our electro-optic systems with increased range, so as conduct surveillance. We have drones and UAV, but also a different attitude; this is the most important. Our attitude has changed from merely observing and receiving the people coming. We declare along our borderline that these are our national, and also European, borders, and we cannot allow any crossings.

MARA ZAHAREA: What message would you like to convey to our Greek viewers?

ALKIVIADIS STEFANIS: The Government has assumed a series of measures at various levels. At political level, the Prime Minister and the pertinent Ministers have shaped the right climate, something we witness both in NATO and the EU.

At operational level, the Chief HNDGS with the Chiefs of the General Staffs do what they must. At tactical level, which is the most important, since it is the individual who will either defend his country or support it –as every Greek citizen does–, unity and love for the country have come to the fore.

I would like to say to the Greek people that they can sleep soundly. We defend our borders and we can recognise the threats. Will things get more serious? Yes, they will. Can we face them?

We are trying really hard to tackle this situation. Will we be effective? Well, we have been so far, and we will improve. I also want to say this: it is a moment, and we witness it every day, when Greeks should realise that there is no “I” in “Country”.

When everything goes well with the country, we are all well. And, at this moment, we are optimistically working towards this end.