European Commission welcomed the announcement from Greek authorities that they will begin dismantling and emptying the makeshift migrant camp that developed on the border with Macedonia, near the Gevgelija crossing.
EC spokesman Margaritis Schinas said that the European Union has constantly expressed hope that the people hold up in the camp will be moved to better organized camps and welcomes any Greek initiative to evacuate the makeshift Idomeni camp. MIA correspondent in Brussels reports that Schinas denied knowledge of reports that, following the closure of the Macedonian-Greek border, migrant groups are shifting toward other routes through the Balkans. Schinas also refused to answer whether EU would accept any responsibility if there is violence during the evacuation of the camp.
In several major incidents and hundreds of smaller ones, groups of migrants over the past months tried to push their way into Macedonia and were in most instances caught and returned to Greece. Macedonia built a double fence in the most vulnerable parts of the border to stop the unregulated flow of migrants, and eventually to stop their flow completely, after recipient countries closed their borders.