The North Macedonia border barrier is a border barrier built by North Macedonia on its border with Greece. It was constructed as a response to the European migrant crisis. The construction of the barrier began in November 2015, modeled similarly to the Hungarian border barrier.[1]
On 29 November 2015, the Macedonian army began erecting fences on the Greek border.[2] A Moroccan man was injured in an accident that led to clashes between police and migrants that injured 18.[3] In the early stage of the construction of the barrier, Macedonian police were attacked by the migrants, according to The Guardian.[4] In February, Macedonian soldiers began erecting a second fence meters away from the previous one.[5]
After Austria started to limit asylum applications on its territory in February,[6] Slovenia, Serbia, and other Balkan states imposed restrictions on migrant entries.[7] As a result, Macedonia restricted migrant entries to its territory, which stranded thousands of migrants in Greece, especially near Idomeni border crossing.[7] On 29 February 2016, a group of hundreds of migrants attacked riot police with stones and attempted to break the border barrier using a battering ram made from vandalized street signs and a lamp post.[8][9]
The European Union gave political and financial support for the fences. It was commented that it must be extraordinary that the European Union pays a third country to protect itself from a member country.
In January 2016, Austria limited the number of immigrants that were allowed to be in the country at the same time.[10] In February 2016, Austrian interior minister Mickl-Leitner announced a cap on the number of transiting migrants per day.[11] Subsequently, Slovenia barred migrants from transiting through its territory and Macedonia announced the closure of its Greek border to migrants.[12] Albania deployed extra police to guard its borders and received assistance from Italy in form of "men and equipment" on both land and sea.[13] In March, Macedonia announced a plan to extend its 30 kilometres (19 miles) barrier to 320 kilometres (200 miles).[citation needed]
In May 2016, Reuters reported that more than 10,000 migrants were settled on the border in what has become Europe's largest refugee camp with mosques, schools, and businesses.[14]
Media related to Greece-North Macedonia border barrier at Wikimedia Commons
