Macedonia Refutes Reports of Closing Borders for Refugees

The Macedonian Interior Ministry on Wednesday refuted media reports that Skopje had closed its borders for refugees.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Earlier in the day, reports surfaced that Macedonia had completely closed its borders to illegal migrants after Slovenia and Serbia, following the restrictions imposed by the two countries’ governments.

“We have not closed our borders, it’s just because the other countries on the Balkan route are not accepting migrants and we have migrants that are waiting for three days to be accepted into Serbia … There are 430 people waiting to be accepted in Serbia,” the ministry’s press officer told Sputnik.

According to Slovenian media, the country reintroduced full controls on its border, rejecting foreigners without a valid Schengen visa beginning from midnight on Wednesday. Only those intending to apply for asylum in Slovenia will be allowed to cross the border into the country.

Serbia has also announced the closing of its borders with Macedonia and Bulgaria, while Croatia has refused to allow refugees to transit through its territory as well.

The decisions follow the Turkey-EU summit on migration in Brussels on Monday. The summit focused on stemming migration flows into the European Union. During the event, the sides discussed cooperation on migration, focusing on a speedy implementation of the EU-Turkey action plan approved in November.