Pressure is mounting on the Greek government and most importantly on Greek society due to the refugee crisis, as neighbouring countries are taking tougher measures to safeguard their borders from the flow of thousands of people wanting to reach the north of Europe. The government of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) is examining the possibility of completely shutting down its borders with Greece until the March 17-18 EU Summit.

According to sources, the FYROM the competent state committee assigned with the refugee crisis will convene Wednesday night to assess the new circumstances following the decisions by the governments of Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia to seal off their borders, effectively blocking the Balkan route. Media in neighbouring FYROM report that the country’s refugee committee will discuss the closing off of the point between Gevgeli and and Idomeni, where over 13 thousand refugees are trapped on the Greek side of the border and there is a trickle of refugee flows across the border.

FYROM authorities are keeping that point sealed over the past 3 days in that ‘buffer zone’ between Gevgeli and Idomeni. around 1,050 Afghan immigrants are confined in camps on the borders of Serbia and FYROM, as the Serbian authorities do not allow them to enter their country. A further 450 refugees from Syria and Iraq are also blocked in the neutral zone between Serbia and FYROM.

Hungary, which was the first country to adopt an outright closed border policy against the refugees and migrants is building a moat, while Slovenia said it would only accept people willing to request asylum in their country and some for ‘humanitarian’ reasons. Serbia also followed in the footsteps of Slovenia. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania decided to beef up border controls on refugees and immigrants by erecting fences on their eastern borders.

Meanwhile, according to German magazine Spiegel, the Greek government is preparing to evacuate the refugee camp of Idomenin in its northern borders and relocate refugees and migrants across mainland Greece to other reception centers.