Europe is rapidly building an AI-ready smart-border regime — bankrolled by the EU, pushed by Germany and tested in Greece. Defense and security firms are among the biggest winners. Much of it is unfolding under the radar, with safeguards for people on the move lagging behind.
Border guards patrolling Greece’s frontier with North Macedonia to prevent irregular crossings have long relied on an unusual early-warning system: the storks nesting on a bridge over the Axios River. When the birds suddenly scatter, officers know someone is likely moving in the bushes below — usually migrants trying to slip out of Greece and head toward Northern Europe. Soon, their role will be obsolete.
