• Greece to send navy ships off Libya to curb migrant surge.
• Mitsotakis urges EU, Libya coordination on border control.
• Migration pressure persists; EU summit to address issue.

On Monday, June 23, 2025, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that Greece will deploy navy warships in international waters off Libya. He said this move aims to stop illegal immigration into Greece. The government made this decision after an emergency Council of Ministers meeting on Sunday.

During a meeting with President Konstantinos Tasoulas, Mitsotakis explained that a recent series of migrant incidents had compelled the government to adopt preventive and deterrent measures. 

Last week, Greece faced a sharp increase in migrant arrivals. In just 24 hours, 731 people, including many children, landed on the islands of Crete and Gavdos. Most migrants came from Egypt, Eritrea, Pakistan, and Sudan after leaving Libya.

The Prime Minister stressed that Greece will deploy the ships as a precaution, and always in cooperation with the Libyan authorities and other European powers. He added, "I have asked the defence minister... to ensure that Greek Navy vessels are deployed off Libya's territorial waters to pre-emptively ... send a message that traffickers will not command who enters our country," according to Reuters.

Greece has been a top gateway for migrants and refugees since 2015. That year, nearly one million people landed on Greek islands, mostly from Turkey, sparking a major humanitarian crisis.

Although arrivals have dropped, the pressure remains. In 2024, over 60,000 people entered Greece irregularly, including many unaccompanied minors. This shows that Greece still faces strong migration pressure.

Mitsotakis said he will raise the Libya issue at the European Summit on Thursday, June 26. He expressed confidence that the summit would produce conclusions aligned with Greece’s stance on migration and border control.