Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki said that a comprehensive European response is necessary to handle the problem with refugees pouring through the Balkans. Poposki said that so far, Macedonia has received only symbolic assistance from the European Union, while, as a major transit country, it needs to be supported in the same way EU member countries are.

"We are communicating with our neighbours, the European Union and the United Nations, given that this is a problem that does not originate in Macedonia or refers only to Macedonia, but we are only one of the destinations along the route. We are looking for a way to deal with the greatly increased inflow. Normally 500-600 migrants would enter Macedonian territory daily, but now we are having a situation of thousands coming in at once", Poposki said at a press event in Ohrid.

The Macedonian Government decided to close the border with Greece for illegal crossing two days ago, and has only allowed smaller groups of vulnerable migrants through since then. Greece has given up on policing the border with Macedonia on its side and it has become a main path for refugees that are trying to leave Greece on their way to the more prosperous European Union countries. According to information the Government is receiving, we should expect that spillover from Greece will continue unabated and for a longer period of time.

"We are in a specific situation because we are the only country on this route in which migrants are coming from a EU member-state into a country which is not a member of the European Union. In other instances the people move either between EU member countries, or non EU member countries, or from non members into the EU. In this case, we have only short-term management of the problem and relocation of the migrants even closer to the Macedonian border. We hope that the European Union will take into consideration the fact that Macedonia is part of this migrant route, and that we will have equal treatment even though we are not a member state", Minister Poposki added.

The Macedonian Government has issued a repeated call for assistance to the European Union, Poposki said, but so far the assistance was merely symbolic. "At this point the help we have received is symbolic, and the main burden is born by the Macedonian institutions. This is not only a financial issue, it's a humanitarian issue, with people leaving a territory that is in war, where their lives are in danger, but who can only be housed if Europe provides a joint response. And at this points, there is no such joint response", Poposki said.

The Government declared a crisis situation in the Southern border region around Gevgelija, as well as in the Northern border with Serbia, allowing for the Army to get involved and help the police in managing the refugees. All those who request asylum in Macedonia will have their claims examined and will be provided one, and appropriate treatment will be provided to those wishing to continue on their way northwards, Poposki added. Since Friday, the police is only allowing as many refugees to cross the border as there are seats in the trains leaving Gevgelija, with priority given to the most vulnerable ones.