Member states of the Council of Europe

On his official visit to Greece, Turkish Foreign Minister Melvut Cavusoglu said that matters of national sovereignty are of secondary importance when it comes to rescuing refugees, on Friday, March 3. During the joint press conference held after a meeting with his Greek counterpart, Nikos Kotzias, the Turkish diplomat said “Whether it is your island, or my island?

Albania fears becoming part of the Balkan "refugee route", now that Macedonia has tightened border controls, leaving some 10,000 people trapped in Greece on their way to Western Europe.

Until now, the most-used route has run through Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia, avoiding Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Albania.

The Romanian government has set up a Romania-Moldova mass media consultative board in order to create a joint media space in the two countries, spread EU values and counter Russian influence.

"The board's mission is to spread European norms to Moldova and explore the opportunities for bilateral cooperation in the mass media," the Romanian Foreign Ministry said.

German broadcaster n-tv is speculating that migrants and refugees trying to reach Europe from the Middle East "might find a new route."

The television published a drawing according to which migrants could in the future move from Greece toward Albania, and then toward Western Europe via Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Croatia.

The righting alliance comprising 50 MEPs and one European Commissioner on Tuesday said the EU's latest resolution on Montenegro last week demonstrated double standards and has ignored the "corruption of Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic".

Turkey's Coast Guard has reported an eleven-fold year-on-year increase in the number of undocumented migrants discovered in the country's Aegean region.

Almost 8,500 refugees were found in Turkish Coast Guard operations in February 2016, 11 times more than the same month in 2015, officials told the state-run Anadolu Agency on March 1.

The situation created recently with thousands of refugees and immigrants trapped in Greece becomes a risky one and seems to be out of control, both at Greece’s eastern border with Turkey and Greece’s northern border with FYROM.

Turkish electronics and domestic appliances maker Vestel closed down its factory in Russia, citing the country's 2014 financial crisis. 

At least 30 migrants, including many children, have sought medical help after they broke through the fence on the Macedonia-Greece border.

To prevent refugees from going into the territory of Macedonia, the police threw tear gas and stun grenades. Nobody was arrested during the incident on Monday morning.

Dramatic developments are recorded in refugee issue with the countries of Western Balkan route closing their borders, while 25,000 refugees and immigrants are already trapped in Greece.

Specifically, Slovenian police announced that authorities of Austria, FYROM, Serbia and Croatia have agreed to limit the flow of immigrants to about 580 people per day.