Greek and Italian police have launched a joint operation targeting the criminal networks responsible for smuggling migra...

Greek and Italian police have launched a joint operation targeting the criminal networks responsible for smuggling migrants across European borders, with analysts warning the crisis is intensifying heading into summer 2026. Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, appeared on Fox News to break down the cooperation between Athens and Rome. She described both countries as ground-zero for smuggling organizations that exploit porous maritime and land borders to move migrants in large numbers across the Mediterranean and Aegean. Vaughan pointed to the recent surge in migrant arrivals across southern Europe this year as the driving force behind the renewed police partnership. Greek and Italian authorities are now sharing intelligence on cross-border criminal groups, a coordination effort that has been years in the making but is now taking on new urgency. She also raised a stark warning for American policymakers, pointing to Spain's recent crisis in Ceuta as a preview of what happens when governments fail to get ahead of organized smuggling networks. The collapse in border control along Spain's northern African enclave, according to Vaughan, shows how quickly a smuggling corridor can overwhelm national authorities once criminal organizations establish routes. The Greece-Italy alliance reflects a broader shift in European border policy, with frontline nations increasingly bypassing EU-level bureaucracy to forge direct law enforcement partnerships. Critics of the EU's migration framework have long argued that burden-sharing agreements have failed southern European states that absorb the bulk of irregular arrivals. Greece's Evros land border and its Aegean islands remain among the highest-pressure entry points into the European Union. Italian coastguards have faced parallel pressure along the central Mediterranean route from North Africa. #Greece #Immigration #BorderSecurity