(ENB) Greece has completed the construction of a 40-kilometer (25-mile) border on its border with Turkey, amid concerns in parts of Europe that the Taliban's capture of Afghanistan could create an influx of asylum seekers.
Greek government ministers visited the fence on Friday and said the overthrow of the Afghan government had given great impetus to their efforts to reduce immigration.
The country was at the center of the European migration crisis in mid-2010, when millions of refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq returned to the continent. Since then Greece has taken a hard line, opposing calls from Turkey and international organizations to allow more immigrants to cross its borders.
"The Afghan crisis is creating new realities in the political arena and at the same time creating opportunities for an influx of immigrants," Greek Defense Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis said in a government statement after visiting a border wall that ended Friday. "As a country we cannot afford to ignore the potential consequences."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis about Afghanistan on Friday, the Turkish government said.
In a televised address yesterday he called on the European Union to help refugees from the country. "If the era of change is not established in Afghanistan, the pressure of migration, which has already reached a high level, will increase dramatically and this situation will be a major challenge for everyone," Erdogan said.

The immigrants claimed that the Greeks had confiscated them and returned them to Turkey in their underwear
The unresponsiveness of US President Joe Biden, who has been criticized for removing US troops from Afghanistan, has disappointed European leaders who are now preparing for the refugee crisis.
Thousands of Afghan people have tried to leave the country this past week, since the Taliban ended its rapid occupation and ended American decades of involvement in the country.
Crowds of desperate locals gathered at Kabul airport in search of a place to fly on Western military planes. Those who could not leave face the threat of a return to the oppressive Taliban regime, which drove women out of their streets and workplaces and imposed the death penalty on charges including adultery, homosexuality and Islamic rejection during her tenure between 1996 and 2001.
"It's our decision ... to protect and defend our borders," Chrisochoidis said. "Our borders will remain secure and inevitable. We will not allow unruly and unruly movements and we will not allow any attempts to violate them."
Even before the Taliban invaded Afghanistan, the epidemic had exacerbated the situation for immigrants. An agreement was reached between Turkey and the European Union in 2016 to restrict Middle Eastern immigrants to Europe, but last year Turkey welcomed the transfer of immigrants to the continent, saying it had "reached an advanced stage."
Both countries share a northeastern border with Greece, which remains a refuge for people from western Asia. There are also many routes to Greece by the sea.
Last year a number of boaters told CNN that they were being repatriated from Greece, which Athens has repeatedly denied. The UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has called on Greece to investigate reports of repatriation.