The Greek government is moving forward with assurances that the commitments of the Evros reconstruction plan are being fully implemented and have been supplemented with new initiatives — even as the opposition launches a fierce offensive, alleging that the original €3 billion master plan, developed under the responsibility of Stavros Benos, has effectively been abandoned and replaced by a plan worth just €309 million. Deputy Minister of Civil Protection Kostas Katsafados, who also serves as President of the Evros Reconstruction Committee, stressed that the plan has not been shelved and that all actions totaling approximately €3 billion are being carried out in the region.
Mr. Katsafados emphasized that this is not a structure in which one body replaces or excludes another, as “the logic behind it is cooperation, coordination, and the parallel implementation of individual actions.” “The discussion that has emerged in recent days creates the impression that the original plan is being abandoned or replaced. This does not reflect reality,” the Deputy Minister clarified. Regarding the Reconstruction Committee, the ministry stressed that it continues its work as normal, with the participation of all relevant institutional and productive bodies. It is worth noting that the reconstruction and development plan for the border region, titled “Evros After,” was presented in Orestiada on October 3, 2024, with a budget exceeding €2.83 billion, and is currently being implemented. With the expansion of financing tools, the total development footprint for Evros (2021–2030) now stands at over €2.96 billion.
Evros: PASOK claims original plan has been cut by 90%
In a joint statement, PASOK’s environment spokesperson Manolis Christodoulakis and the Secretary of the Environment Sector Panagiotis Dimopoulos alleged that the original plan has been slashed by nearly 90%, while also claiming that critical projects have been removed from the new plan. Among these, they cited the electrification of the railway network, for which, they noted, European funding had already been secured. According to the main opposition party, Stavros Benos has stated that he feels “insulted” and “trapped,” arguing that a different study was presented from the one developed under his responsibility and that the original plan has effectively been cancelled.
“The railway has not been excluded from any plan”
The ministry, however, firmly stated that the railway has not been excluded from any plan. Regarding the upgrade of the Alexandroupoli–Ormenio railway line, it was noted that this project falls under the major infrastructure axis and was never funded through the Integrated Territorial Investment (ITI) mechanism. It is financed directly through European resources via the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), with a budget of €892.8 million, and is currently in an active tender process with a contractor expected to be selected by the end of 2026. In the same context, it was underlined that landmark projects with specific resources and timelines are underway across the entire Evros region, all included in the area’s approximately €3 billion development plan.
Originally published in Apogevmatini
