Off the wire
• France welcomes record number of Chinese visitors in 2015  • UN chief to arrive in Nigeria on a two-day visit  • Only "simplified" tropical forest to remain by end of century: study  • Most cars destroyed in Tianjin blasts come from JLR plants in Britain: report  • News Analysis: Greece plunges into uncertainty with snap elections called after third bailout  • Saudi Arabia reports fresh MERS fatality, 6 new cases  • Spanish stock market falls 2.98 pct, closes at 10,271 points  • Roundup: UNHCR expresses concern over situation at border between Greece, Macedonia  • China steps up efforts to ensure a blue sky parade  • Nigerian leader urges respect for constitutional order in Guinea Bissau  
You are here: 　 Home

Macedonian, Serbian PMs hold phone conversation on migrant crisis

Xinhua, August 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski had a phone conversation late Friday afternoon with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic concerning the situation with the huge migrant influx to these Balkan countries from the Middle East, Africa and Asia crisis regions.

Gruevski and Vucic exchanged information that can be used for more efficient tackling of the problem with the migrant wave, the press service of the Macedonian government announced on Friday in Skopje.

"The two prime ministers agreed to follow the developments closely and to take measures and activities for confronting this ongoing situation," Macedonian government press service announced without mentioning the concrete measures that were discussed by Gruevski and Vucic.

According to media in Serbia, the talks between the two prime ministers of the neighboring countries on the issue of the migration influx will continue in the following days.

Macedonia declared a "state of emergency" at its borders with Greece and Serbia yesterday, allowing the army to be deployed as assistance to the police forces that are trying to control the migrants entering and exiting the country towards EU.

The ministry of defense of Bulgaria announced on Friday its readiness to engage the military forces in securing the borders towards Greece and Macedonia, fearing that the migrants might try to use Bulgaria as a new route.

"Concerning the complicated situation in the neighboring countries and the migrant wave, the ministry of defense will suggest concrete measures to secure the state borders, in cooperation with the ministry of interior," the authorities in Sofia stated.

Bulgaria has not seen a dramatic rise of the number of illegal migrants in the past period, as the migrants from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries still mainly use the route Greece-Macedonia-Serbia to reach Central and Western Europe. Endite