The number of refugees and migrants stranded on the Greece-Macedonia border continued to swell on 7 March. Drone footage showed rows and rows of tents dotted for kilometres among the vast fields at the border, along the railway tracks and station, and around the main roads. Greek police officials said only 337 passed through the checkpoints in last 24 hours.

At least 12,000 migrants are camping out on the border, which rarely opens to allow people through. Greece estimates 30,000 are gathered in the country as a whole. EU leaders and Turkey will meet on 7 March, in a last-ditch attempt to stem the massive movement of people across the continent.

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann has urged Germany to set a clear limit on the number of asylum seekers it will accept to help stem a mass influx of refugees that is severely testing European cohesion. Greece will press for solidarity with refugees and fair burden-sharing among European Union states at the emergency EU summit with Turkey. It is expected that leaders will discuss the closure of the Balkan route through Greece for the migrants, affecting the thousands on the Greece-Macedonia border.

Related