Macedonian language

BITOLA - A closure of European borders is unacceptable if the borders of Balkan states that are outside the EU are to remain open, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said Friday in a comment on the migrant crisis.

Several dozen migrants managed to illegally cross from Greece into Macedonia on April 24 -- a border that has been shut since February, an AFP photographer reported.
 

Greece on April 11 lashed out at Macedonia for using "excessive force" after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on migrants trying to breach the closed border to enter the EU.
 

Macedonian police clashed with migrants who attempted to illegally enter into Macedonia from Greece on Sunday.

The clash occurred at the Idomeni refugee camp at the Greek-Macedonian border where thousands of migrants have been stranded for weeks after the closure of the Western Balkan route.

Macedonian police used tear gas to push back hundreds of migrants from a border fence at a sprawling refugee camp on the Greek side of the frontier on April 10, a Reuters witness said. 

The government in Sofia has decided to increase 2.5 times the annual quota for university students from the Bulgarian diaspora living mostly in European countries.

A court in Skopje has sentenced six radical Islamist recruiters and fighters to jail terms of between 5-1/2 to 7 years, Macedonian news agency MIA reported on Friday.

The six entered a plea bargain with the prosecutors.

There is no heightened migrant pressure on Bulgarian borders, with the number of refugees passing through the country's borders comparable to the figures from last year.

This was announced by Antonio Angelov, director of border police, in an interview for the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) on Tuesday.

The border between Macedonia and Greece is completely closed and several thousand people are stranded there currently, B92 reporter said on Thursday afternoon.

Most of them are from Syria and Iraq. Greek police announced that the Macedonian authorities have allowed only 100 people to cross the border this morning.

Macedonian customs officers have discovered EUR 152,395 in cash hidden in a car with Serbian number plates.