Macedonian Police

Hundreds of refugees on Feb. 29 tried to break through a border fence into Macedonia from Greece, where more than 7,000 people are stranded, as anger mounts over barriers to entry imposed on migrants flooding into Europe.

Macedonia had closed its border with Greece to Afghan migrants, leaving a growing number of people stranded, Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported in its online English-language edition on Monday, citing Greek police sources.

New migration guidelines agreed to by Balkan interior ministers in Zagreb on Thursday resulted in a dramatic drop in the number of migrants crossing the southern Macedonian border over the weekend.

Macedonia's decision in November to bar so-called economic migrants from entry has revitalised old illegal migrant trafficking routes, local residents and police officers told BIRN.

After Austria said it will refuse entry to migrants seeking to pass through to Scandinavia, Rados Djurovic, head of the Center for Protection and Help for Asylum seekers in Serbia, told BIRN that NGOs fear Serbia will become a refugee "buffer zone" for EU countries.

A migrant was electrocuted to death at the Greek-Macedonian border on Dec. 3 during a second successive day of clashes between police and migrants stranded for weeks on the Greek side. 

Man dies of electrocution, as migrants and refugees clash

One man died of electrocution while two others were injured on the Greece-Macedonia border as migrants and refugees clashed there on Thursday.

Macedonian authorities are allowing only refugees from war-affected Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq to enter the country, on their way to western and northern Europe.

Macedonian police has used tear gas to push back illegal migrants who tried to storm through the country's border with Greece on Wednesday.

A clash between Macedonian police and migrants left up to forty people injured at the Macedonian-Greek border on Saturday.

A group of economic migrants not allowed to enter Macedonia from Greece attacked policemen by throwing stones and other objects.

Reports suggest that Macedonian police briefly entered Greece and fired stun grenades on the discontent migrants.

The Macedonian Army has begun erecting a wire fence along the country's border with Greece to control a wave of migrants trying to cross, local TV channel Telma reported on Saturday.

The fence is being built in the areas where 'economic migrants' have been stopped with Macedonia denying them entry, Telma said.