SKOPJE
– Macedonia has closed its border completely to illegal migrants after
Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia announced tight new restrictions on migrant entry,
a police official says.

Thousands
of migrants have built up on the Greek side of the Macedonian border.

Macedonia
had been allowing small numbers of Syrians and Iraqis through but stopped this
after its neighbours tightened up their policies.

“We
have completely closed the border,” the police official, who declined to
be named, told Reuters.

According
to the Macedonian Interior Ministry, no migrants entered from Greece on
Tuesday.

“Macedonia will act
according to the decisions taken by other countries on the Balkan route,”
an Interior Ministry spokesman said, referring to the main routes taken by more
than a million migrants to reach the European Union over the last year.

Slovenia,
Croatia and Serbia said on Tuesday they would place new restrictions on the
entry of migrants.

The
decisions were announced hours after EU leaders outlined an agreement intended
to end a mass movement to reach wealthy countries in Europe from war zones.

About 1000 migrants remain
stranded in a refugee camp on the Macedonian side of the Serbian border while more
than 400 are stranded in “no man’s land” between Serbia and
Macedonia.

They refuse to go back to Macedonia and are not being allowed to
cross in to Serbia.

–  Reuters