The North Macedonia border barrier is a
border barrier
A border barrier is a separation barrier that runs along or near an international border. Such barriers are typically constructed for border control purposes such as curbing illegal immigration, human trafficking, and smuggling. Some such barr ...
built by
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
on its border with
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
. It was constructed as a response to the
European migrant crisis
The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to reques ...
. The construction of the barrier began in November 2015, modeled similarly to the
Hungarian border barrier.
History
On 29 November 2015, the Macedonian army began erecting fences on the Greek border.
A Moroccan man was injured in an accident that led to clashes between police and migrants that injured 18.
In the early stage of the construction of the barrier, Macedonian police were attacked by the migrants, according to ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
''. In February, Macedonian soldiers began erecting a second fence meters away from the previous one.
After Austria started to limit asylum applications on its territory in February,
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...
,
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
, and other
Balkan
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
states imposed restrictions on migrant entries.
As a result, Macedonia restricted migrant entries to its territory, which stranded thousands of migrants in Greece, especially near
Idomeni
Idomeni or Eidomene ( el, Ειδομένη, ) is a small village in Greece, near the border with North Macedonia. The village is located in the municipality of Paeonia, Kilkis regional unit of Central Macedonia (Greece).
The village is built a ...
border crossing.
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
A battering ram is a siege engine that originated in ancient times and was designed to break open the masonry walls of fortifications or splinter their wooden gates. In its simplest form, a battering ram is just a large, heavy log carried b ...
made from vandalized street signs and a lamp post.
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.
Idomeni migrant camp
In January 2016, Austria limited the number of immigrants that were allowed to be in the country at the same time. In February 2016, Austrian interior minister Mickl-Leitner announced a cap on the number of transiting migrants per day. Subsequently, Slovenia barred migrants from transiting through its territory and Macedonia announced the closure of its Greek border to migrants.
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...
deployed extra police to guard its borders and received assistance from
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
in form of "men and equipment" on both land and sea. In March, Macedonia announced a plan to extend its barrier to .
In May 2016, ''
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was est ...
'' 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.
See also
*
Austrian border barrier Austrian border barriers are border barriers and migration management facilities constructed by Austria between November 2015 and January 2016 on its border with Slovenia and in 2016 on its border with Italy, as a response to European migrant cris ...
*
Bulgarian border barrier
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bu ...
*
Greek border barrier
*
Hungarian border barrier
*
Norway–Russia border barrier
The Norway–Russia border barrier is an international border barrier built by Norway on the Norway–Russia border. Construction of the barrier began in September 2016 and took a few months. The intent of the project was to prevent the smuggling ...
*
Slovene border barrier
The Slovenian border barrier is a border barrier constructed by Slovenia in 2015–2016 on its border with Croatia as a response to the European migrant crisis. Both Slovenia and Croatia are European Union members, therefore the barrier is located ...
*
Greece–North Macedonia relations
Greece–North Macedonia relations refers to the bilateral relations between Greece and North Macedonia.
Greece has an embassy in Skopje, and a Consulate General in Bitola. Similarly, North Macedonia maintains an embassy in Athens, and a consulat ...
*
Accession of North Macedonia to the European Union
The accession of North Macedonia to the European Union has been on the current agenda for future enlargement of the EU since 2005, when it became a candidate for accession. Macedonia submitted its membership application in 2004, thirteen years ...
References
External links
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{{European migrant crisis
Border barriers constructed during the European migrant crisis
2015 in the Republic of Macedonia
Greece–North Macedonia border