The government of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYRoM), north of the Greek province of Macedonia, on Friday declared a state of emergency on its southern and northern borders due to the heightened flow of mostly Middle Eastern nationals trying to enter and exit the land-locked country for further destinations in western Europe.
The situation was reached unprecedented proportions earlier in the morning when border guards lobbed tear gas canisters and stun grenades at groups trying to illegally enter fYRoM’s border, people described in news reports as mostly Syrian refugees.
Meanwhile, the response by the embattled Alternate Migration Minister in Athens, Tasia Christodoulopoulou, was that the “(Greek) government has resigned.”
Christodoulopoulou and the rest of the radical leftist SYRIZA government have come under severe criticism within the country and by the political opposition for failing to adequately secure the country’s sea borders in the eastern Aegean. The migration crisis over the summer came months after the new government indirectly promoted a looser “border policy” vis-a-vis the arrival of anyone claiming to be a refugee or asylum seeker.
In the morning, 2,000 people had congregated at a border point between Idomenei and Gevgeli, on the fYRoM side.