Spotlight: Refugees flood into Balkans, EU faces big challenge

The European Union (EU) is closely monitoring the situation at the Macedonian border after the authorities declared a "state of emergency" as a result of the huge refugee wave from the Middle East and Asia, stated the Office of the EU Commissioner on European neighborhood policy and enlargement negotiations, Johannes Hahn.

"The Commission is aware of the decision of the Macedonian government to declare a state of emergency in the regions near its southern and northern border. According to international law, Macedonia has the right to control the persons trying to enter its territory and to forbid entrance to the ones that do not fulfill the necessary criteria. The Commission is prepared to continue to offer humanitarian assistance to Macedonia for dealing with this matter," said Hahn's office in a written statement on Friday.

Macedonian authorities declared a state of emergency at its border, sending police and military forces to try to prevent the refugee wave, but admitted that the measure was not a definitive solution to the huge migrant crisis.

Thousands of migrants from crisis areas in the Middle East and Asia are racing through Balkan countries every day trying to reach Europe. One of the main doors to the "promised land" of Europe has been the route Greece-Macedonia-Serbia. The other one goes through Italy. Although they have the chance to apply for asylum in these countries, most of them decide to continue towards central and western Europe.

"I want to reach Germany. I have relatives there. Syria is just not safe and I hope that my life will be much better in Europe," a 34-year old migrant told Xinhua at Gevgelija railway station before jumping onto the train that will take him to neighboring Serbia.

But the huge migrant influx has caused serious problems for the small Balkan countries. Most of them, like Macedonia, have neither resources nor facilities to accommodate migrants in such huge numbers. The railway couldn't manage the transportation and even humanitarian organizations do not have enough supplies to help the many in need. Migrants wandering through the country, usually on foot, present a potential security risk, both for their own lives, and for the lives of others.

"We expect a humanitarian response by the European Union as soon as possible, reaching out to all of the countries affected by the migrant crisis and will distribute the weight of the challenge on the principle of solidarity," the spokesperson of the Macedonian Ministry of Interior Ivo Kotevski said to Xinhua in Skopje.

According to police statistics, in the past two months, over 40,000 migrants entered Macedonia declaring their intent to seek asylum, but only 47 were later registered as having applied for asylum. The rest of them continued onwards towards other countries. Macedonian police put part of the blame for the huge influx of migrants on their colleagues in neighboring Greece.

"Sadly, the south border was not protected at all from the Greek side. The illegal migrants were constantly allowed to cross over in Macedonia, and in some cases we were even witnesses that they were given organized transport to the border," spokesperson Kotevski said. The attempts by the Macedonian police to contact their Greek colleagues and urge cooperation in this field were unsuccessful.

Germany's Internal Affairs Minister Thomas de Maiziere, right after meeting his French counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve in Berlin on Friday, announced that the issue of the migrants and asylum seekers would be discussed in the EU in October at the ministerial meeting in Paris.

"Regardless whether it happens in the Mediterranean or in Greece, we are witnessing major drama. Balkan countries are severely threatened by the wave of people trying to reach central Europe," De Maiziere said.

German and French authorities agreed that the EU needed resolute action and improved cooperation in order to address the rising wave of migrants. The issue is expected to be discussed at the meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on Monday.

The EU has so far has given 90,656 euros (102,283 U.S. dollars) in humanitarian aid to Macedonia, the country hit by an enormous flood of refugees from countries like Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. This is far from enough, since the calculations presented by the Macedonian Ministry of the Interior show that positioning more police at the border is costing the country at least 800,000 euros every month. Brussels recently promised to release a new program in September for financial assistance of the countries in the Western Balkans and Turkey, which are most hit by the tide of refugees, with a total value of 8 million euros. Endit