German Chancellor Angela Merkel has blamed European nations for “unilaterally” shutting the Balkan route for migrants.
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A woman waits with her child for permission to cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia.
Sandor Pinter said Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia have all taken steps to limit the number of migrants allowed to cross their borders.
The EU and Turkey, from where migrants reach Greece, have set out a plan to ease the crisis.
The 28 European Union leaders have given themselves until the next summit due on March 17-18 to hone the details of an agreement that has stirred resistance in some countries, not least due to concerns over Turkey’s record on human rights and press freedom.
But the mooted Turkish deal is controversial, and ahead of an European Union interior ministers meeting later Thursday, Vienna signaled its opposition.
Their reactions flew in the face of the response of EU President Donald Tusk, who welcomed the Balkan route closure as being part of a collective response from the bloc.
However, the UNHCR’s Cochetel said Europe’s commitment so far to resettle, on a voluntary basis, 20,000 refugees over two years remains “very low ” .
Mikl-Leitner said it is important to warn that the Balkan migrant route into Europe is closed because, she says, “that way you do not feed any hopes and expectations”.
Slovenia’s interior ministry said that from midnight (2300 GMT), access would only be granted to “foreigners meeting the requirements to enter the country ” , those wishing to claim asylum, and migrants selected “on a case by case basis on humanitarian grounds and in accordance with the rules of the Schengen zone ” .
In Greece, more than 13,000 people were stranded, according to state agency ANA. But Germany objected to the wording and it was changed. “That’s what he said publicly and those are the discussions he had with Merkel”.
Speaking to MDR radio on Thursday, she repeated her position, saying that closing the route “does not resolve the problem” and would “not be sustainable or lasting ” .
“We are monitoring the situation and are here to take the necessary measures”, Keelpno chief Athanassios Giannopoulos told reporters.
“If we do not manage to reach a deal with Turkey, then Greece can not bear the weight for long”.
“Extreme right-wing and nationalistic political parties are inflaming the situation where we need to be seeking solutions, harmonious solutions based on shared responsibilities”, Ban said.
The new EU-Turkey deal skips that processing.
Turkey moved swiftly to start implementing key commitments outlined in Brussels, reaffirming an agreement with Greece for readmitting migrants.
The deal also raises legal questions.
The closures are creating a bottleneck of migrants in Greece, which has been a main entry point to Europe.
Concerns are all the higher as Turkey is not a full signatory to the Geneva Convention on refugees.
What’s in the EU-Turkey proposal?
Turkey’s coast guard has intercepted dozens of mostly Syrian refugees in coves along the Aegean coast as they continued to attempt perilous sea crossings to Greece. The corridor from Syria is often used by migrants from other countries, who are not victims of war.
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“I have to say I am a bit exhausted to hear about irregular migrants or illegal migrants when we know that 91 percent of the people arriving in Greece are Afghans, Iraqis, and Syrians fleeing for their lives, fleeing because of the conflict, or fleeing because of the human rights’ violations in their countries”, the UN’s Cochetel said Tuesday.
