Greek President Condemns Use of Tear Gas on Refugees at Macedonian Border

Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos condemned on Monday the actions of police officers of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), who fired tear gas and rubber bullets on a group of refugees as they tried to break through the border fence.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Sunday, numerous injuries were reported at Greece’s Idomeni camp as Macedonian police fired tear gas against refugees attempting to cross the Greek-Macedonian border.

"Such unthinkable and unacceptable acts have no place in the EU and NATO. We must defend Europe and we must treat refugees with respect to the principles of humanitarianism and solidarity," Pavlopoulos said during a meeting with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, as quoted by the English version of the Greek Kathimerini newspaper.

We are treating this 16 year old child after he was allegedly beaten by authorities… pic.twitter.com/Usmxi2VEhP

— MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) April 10, 2016

Europa setzt in #Idomeni wieder sein Sonntagsgesicht auf. Tränengas aus Mazedonien gegen #Refugees. (via Reuters) pic.twitter.com/spECNIJQaW

— Blockupy (@Blockupy) April 10, 2016

Europe shows its cheerful face in Idomeni again. Tear gas from Macedonia against refugees.​

Police fired tear gas into the designated areas for women and children in #Idomeni camp yesterday. pic.twitter.com/lUJlCiAxad

— Doctors of the World (@DOTW_UK) April 11, 2016

Since the beginning of 2016, over 147,000 migrants have arrived in Greece out of a total of some 160,000 arrivals to Europe via the Mediterranean, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Macedonia closed its border with Greece to incoming migrants in February after other countries along the Balkan route had closed their frontiers, including Serbia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria. The border closures have resulted in thousands of refugees being stranded in Greece, particularly along the border with Macedonia.