Austria Tells Balkans to Curb Refugee Flow

Croatian Interior Minister Vlaho Orepic said trains will begin transporting refugees directly from the Macedonia-Greece border to Austria without stopping in any countries on the way.The move came two days after Macedonian Army began erecting a new 37 km-long fence on the border with Greece to prevent refugees and migrants from entering the country illegally.The new, longer and taller fence is being erected just five meters away from the existing one built last November.Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said in Belgrade that as his country acted to reduce the influx of refugees, Balkan countries should do the same.After Austria last year accepted 90,000 people, it is limiting the number to 37,500 in 2016, Kurz said on Tuesday following a meeting with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.The Austrian minister also said his country was "aware of the consequences this could cause" on the migrant route that runs from Greece through Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia.The new moves in the Balkans come as new wave of refugees from Syria gathers on the Turkish border, after an estimated 70,000 people fled fighting around the key city of Aleppo.Macedonia, along with Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia, introduced a stricter border policy on November 18. Since then, it has only allowed refugees from war-torn Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan to enter the country.The authorities have pushed back to Greece thousands of people from other countries, treating them as economic migrants, ignoring any claim they may have to asylum.Two weeks ago, Macedonia welcomed a Slovene plan for increased security on Macedonia's border with Greece aimed at stemming the flow of migrants moving towards Western Europe.The Slovenian plan, which the European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker,...