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The Greek–Turkish land border became the site of a border spectacle in March 2020, following the “opening” of the border by the Turkish government and its simultaneous closure by the Greek government. The ensuing violence was legitimated by narratives of exception and racist discourses hinging on the notions of “invasion” and “asymmetrical threats.” Yet, the spectacular and highly mediatized nature of the events of March 2020 hid the embeddedness and longevity of border violence in Evros, the area named after the river that constitutes the land border between Greece and Turkey. Drawing on qualitative research including fieldwork, interviews and document analysis, we focus on the practice of pushbacks as an enduring feature of the local border regime. We argue that pushbacks and other forms of violence should not be conceived merely as human rights violations and therefore aberrations to the laws and values of Europe and its states, but as normalized technologies of border management embedded in the racialized, violent border regimes of liberal states, exemplifying the inherent and unavoidable violence of borders.

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Contracting of services has become increasingly important over the last few decades. Against this background, public contracts play an indispensable role in setting standards for services as well as in the regulation of labour. This article explores public tendering strategies for a specific service, interpretation in the context of asylum and international protection. Based on an empirical study of tendering strategies of two public agencies in Greece, it analyses core issues related to working conditions and service quality, namely, the importance given to the price and the use of stipulations relating to working conditions and qualifications. The findings reveal that even under high budgetary constraints, individual agencies may seek to strategically counteract a price-driven competition and point to the importance of the structure of the market as an external constraint.