Greece’s Evzones border checkpoint hit by hours‑long queues after EU biometric rollout

On Saturday 30 May, the Evzones land border crossing in northern Greece experienced kilometre‑long vehicle queues, with waiting times of up to two hours for private cars and up to five hours for tourist buses and trucks. The disruption was caused by the full implementation of the European Union’s new Entry‑Exit System, which requires electronic and biometric registration of third‑country nationals entering or leaving the Schengen area.

The backlog began to ease around midday when authorities temporarily reverted to the previous manual checks, cutting wait times to about 15 minutes. Thousands of travelers heading to popular summer destinations such as Halkidiki, Kavala and Pieria were affected, prompting complaints from drivers and passengers about the inconvenience.

The EU’s biometric system is intended to strengthen security, improve border management and curb illegal migration, but its abrupt rollout at the Evzones checkpoint triggered the severe congestion.