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Bulgaria has incresed the border patrols after the news that hundreds of immigrants have been trying to cross from Greece to North Macedonia to continue their Balkan road to Western European states seeking asylum.
Bulgarian Interior Minister Mladen Marinov told the National Assembly that he is ready to implement the crisis management plan if the situation gets worse.The immigrants, mostly from the Middle East, gathered in the Dhiavatas camp near Thessaloniki after rumors spread through social media that the border was open and could go freely.
A large number of Greek policemen prevented their march, but on the third day of the gathering, the migrants expressed openly that they want to march 60 kilometers towards North Macedonia to follow the old itinerary, recalling the cramp of 2015. While there were some tensions.
UNHCR urged immigrants to return to their camps, while buses for that are ready. Even the Greek ministry made it clear that there is no open border. There are more than 70,000 immigrants in Greece, blocked there since 2016, and the pressure is growing.
Meanwhile at the Turkish-Bulgarian border there has been a decrease in the pressure of migrants, as a result of intensified controls and the EU-Turkey agreement.