Athens, 28 May 2026 (MIA) - I am very sorry, however we must implement European legislation, as the European Commission insists on full implementation, Greece’s Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrisochoidis said referring to the biometric registration system for third-country nationals at border checkpoints. He stressed that he had “received complaints from colleagues from North Macedonia and Serbia” concerning the EU's Entry/Exit System (EES), MIA’s Athens correspondent reported.

Greece’s Ministry of Citizen Protection is responsible for the police and border crossing controls, and from Halkidiki, where he held a meeting ahead of the summer season, Chrisochoidis also referred to the EES system, saying that the issue of biometric registration at the borders has two aspects – the process itself and Greece’s outdated infrastructure.

“I know there are complaints. I have also received complaints from my colleagues from North Macedonia and Serbia. This is an issue with two aspects. The first concerns the new way of entering European Union countries, the so-called Entry/Exit System. I am very sorry, but we have to implement European legislation and, unfortunately, in the initial phase all of this causes delays, which are not due to a lack of staff. Even if there is a vacancy for a single police officer, it will be filled. The problem, I repeat, has two dimensions. First, the procedures take time and cannot be skipped, since the European Commission insists on their full implementation. This means that each third-country citizen and the police officer conducting the control must spend several seconds or minutes on the procedure. Secondly, unfortunately, our infrastructure is outdated and requires modernization,” Chrisochoidis said.

He added that the new Kipi border crossing (towards Turkey) is already under construction, noting that the new infrastructure will help ease the problem.

An operational plan for the tourist season was presented during the meeting, foreseeing additional strengthening of police forces in all sectors, including the traffic police. It was announced that ahead of summer, Halkidiki police units will be reinforced by about 200 officers, in order to “further strengthen the sense of security for citizens and the millions of visitors expected during the summer period.”

“All services must fully meet their needs, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, during all months with increased visitor numbers in the region,” the minister said.

Photo: Greece’s Ministry of Citizen Protection