February 6, 2011
The border between Greece and Turkey amounts, on land at least, to two parallel roads and a ditch. On both sides of this weed-infested chasm, conscripts face each other down the barrel of a gun, some perched on observation towers, others striding, rifles at the ready, past mud-churned fields along the road.
Depending on the prevailing mood between Athens and Ankara, the soldiers may acknowledge each other and even nod. Pleasantries have been in short supply of late. Thanks to a tidal wave of men, women and children who have worked out that this is the easiest backdoor entrance into the European Union, the mood is brittle and tense.
The edginess doesn't seem to bother Police Sergeant Frank Reh. Fresh from serving on an anti-riot unit in Berlin, this burly German member of Frontex, the EU's border control agency, relishes his new beat defending Fortress Europe.
"Ah," he says, his broad face gleaming in the cold, crows swooping over the fields around him. "I think it is important to support the Greeks. This is Europe's border, after all."
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