{"id":18965,"date":"2026-08-06T08:56:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T08:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/06\/migrant-arrivals-to-greece-fall-34-in-first-half-of-2026-minister-says-greek-city-times\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T08:56:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T08:56:46","slug":"migrant-arrivals-to-greece-fall-34-in-first-half-of-2026-minister-says-greek-city-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/06\/migrant-arrivals-to-greece-fall-34-in-first-half-of-2026-minister-says-greek-city-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Migrant arrivals to Greece fall 34% in first half of 2026, minister says \u2013 Greek City Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-first=\"M\">\n<h4 id=\"h-migrant-arrivals-at-greece-s-sea-borders-have-fallen-by-34-during-the-first-half-of-2026-compared-with-the-same-period-last-year-according-to-maritime-affairs-and-insular-policy-minister-vassilis-kikilias\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Migrant arrivals at Greece\u2019s sea borders have fallen by <strong>34%<\/strong> during the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year, according to <strong>Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy Minister Vassilis Kikilias<\/strong>.<\/h4>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a post on X, Kikilias said Greece recorded <strong>15,389 migrant arrivals<\/strong> between January and June 2026, down from <strong>23,243 arrivals<\/strong> during the corresponding period in 2025.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"el\" dir=\"ltr\">\u039f \u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03b1\u03c4\u03b7\u03b3\u03b9\u03ba\u03cc\u03c2 \u03c3\u03c7\u03b5\u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03c3\u03bc\u03cc\u03c2 \u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u039a\u03c5\u03b2\u03ad\u03c1\u03bd\u03b7\u03c3\u03b7\u03c2 <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PrimeministerGR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PrimeministerGR<\/a> \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 \u03a5\u03c0\u03bf\u03c5\u03c1\u03b3\u03b5\u03af\u03bf\u03c5 \u039d\u03b1\u03c5\u03c4\u03b9\u03bb\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 \u039b\u03b9\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03b9\u03ba\u03bf\u03cd \u03a3\u03ce\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 \u03b3\u03b9\u03b1 \u03c4\u03b7\u03bd \u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03b9\u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03ce\u03c0\u03b9\u03c3\u03b7 \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd\u03b1\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5\u03c5\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03bf\u03cd \u03c3\u03c4\u03b1 \u03b8\u03b1\u03bb\u03ac\u03c3\u03c3\u03b9\u03b1 \u03c3\u03cd\u03bd\u03bf\u03c1\u03ac \u03bc\u03b1\u03c2 \u03b1\u03c0\u03bf\u03b4\u03af\u03b4\u03b5\u03b9 \u03ba\u03b1\u03b8\u03b7\u03bc\u03b5\u03c1\u03b9\u03bd\u03ac \u03c3\u03c4\u03bf \u03c0\u03b5\u03b4\u03af\u03bf \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03c4\u03b1 \u03b1\u03c0\u03bf\u03c4\u03b5\u03bb\u03ad\u03c3\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1 \u03b5\u03af\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9 \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03c1\u03ae\u03c3\u03b9\u03bc\u03b1: <\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcc9 \u03a3\u03c5\u03bd\u03bf\u03bb\u03b9\u03ba\u03ae \u03bc\u03b5\u03af\u03c9\u03c3\u03b7 \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd\u03b1\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5\u03c5\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03ce\u03bd\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Vassilis Kikilias (@Vkikilias) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Vkikilias\/status\/2084943378903429154?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 5, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The largest decline was recorded along the eastern Aegean route from <strong>Turkey<\/strong>, where arrivals dropped by <strong>59%<\/strong>. In contrast, migrant arrivals from <strong>Libya<\/strong> decreased by approximately <strong>4%<\/strong>, highlighting the continued pressure on Greece\u2019s southern maritime border, particularly around <strong>Crete<\/strong> and <strong>Gavdos<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kikilias attributed the overall reduction to the Greek government\u2019s migration strategy, enhanced border management and the ongoing efforts of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy in cooperation with the <strong>Hellenic Coast Guard<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe strategy we are implementing is producing measurable results,\u201d the minister said, praising coastguard personnel for their commitment to protecting Greece\u2019s maritime borders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also acknowledged the coastguard\u2019s humanitarian role, noting that officers carry out daily search and rescue missions in the Aegean and Mediterranean, saving lives while enforcing the country\u2019s border security.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greece remains one of the European Union\u2019s main entry points for migrants and asylum seekers crossing the Mediterranean. While arrivals from Turkey have fallen sharply this year, authorities continue to face challenges along the Libyan migration route, where smuggling networks remain active and rescue operations south of Crete have intensified in recent months.<\/p>\n<footer class=\"article-tags entry-footer\">\n<\/footer><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/2026\/08\/06\/migrant-arrivals-greece-fall-34-percent-2026\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Migrant arrivals at Greece\u2019s sea borders have fallen by 34% during the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year, according to Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy Minister Vassilis Kikilias. In a post on X, Kikilias said Greece recorded 15,389 migrant arrivals between January and June 2026, down from 23,243 arrivals during &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Migrant arrivals to Greece fall 34% in first half of 2026, minister says \u2013 Greek City Times\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/06\/migrant-arrivals-to-greece-fall-34-in-first-half-of-2026-minister-says-greek-city-times\/#more-18965\" aria-label=\"Read more about Migrant arrivals to Greece fall 34% in first half of 2026, minister says \u2013 Greek City Times\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/migration_upscale.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}