Greece's neighborly relations strained as refugees wait

By Vasiliki Mitsiniotou

ATHENS

Border restrictions on the Balkans refugee route are taking a heavy toll of Greece’s relations with its neighbors and EU partners, as the country is forced to deal with a backlog of people seeking to head further into Europe.

“Balkan countries putting restrictions on the flow of people go against even European rules and regulations and certainly against basic refugee protection laws,” Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said in Athens on Wednesday.

Austria has angered Greece by holding a meeting of Balkan states to which Greece was not invited. In a joint statement, the ten countries attending in Vienna said they had agreed to turn away “migrants not in need of international protection”.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias described the meeting as an “unfriendly act”.

Meanwhile, Macedonia placed severe restrictions on its border with Greece at the weekend, leading to a backlog of thousands on the Greek side of the frontier.

Greece has found itself a “frontline” state as hundreds of thousands of refugees cross the Aegean from Turkey. Last year, more than 1.1 million entered the EU, with around 80 percent of these coming through Greece from Turkey.

More than 102,000 have crossed the Aegean so far this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

They are largely heading for prosperous north European nations such as Germany and Sweden.

“Greece has the biggest burden in the EU,” Grandi said at a news conference following a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

“The border restrictions should be lifted and relocation has to happen for the people already here towards countries throughout Europe. We are asking for decisions already taken to be implemented.

“Closures along the Balkan route may create a bottleneck here in Greece and this would mean that Greece needs to get prepare for a higher number of people not being able to move further than Greece.”

Late last year EU members agreed to relocate refugees across Europe under a quota system but meaningful steps have so far failed to materialize.

The influx comes as Greece struggles under austerity measures and budget restrictions imposed by international creditors.

EU leaders will hold a summit with Turkey on March 7 at which the refugee crisis will head the agenda EU President Donald Tusk said Wednesday.