President Gjorge Ivanov has said Balkan countries like his are victims of a "failed refugee policy" by Germany and Brussels. He said if he had relied on the EU, Macedonia would now be flooded with jihadis.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/M. Sulooca
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In a hard-hitting critique of the 28-member EU and its wealthiest member state, Macedonian President Ivanov told German newspaper "Bild" on Friday that while the Berlin government "had acted with humanity" in accepting so many refugees, it had failed to properly manage the security of the country.
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia had offered to exchange of information about Islamist militants plying the main migrant routes through the Balkans, he said in an interview with the mass-market daily, but neither Berlin nor Brussels had responded.
"Security issues relating to the refugee crisis have been completely forgotten," Ivanov said. "If I had waited for Brussels and had failed to react [to protect the border], we would have long been flooded with jihadis."
In recent months, Macedonia has allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to transit through the country from Greece northwards to Germany and Scandinavia.
Thousands of people are stranded in makeshift shelters on the Greece-Macedonia borderImage: Getty Images/AFP/D. Dilkoff
Ivanov also used his interview with the German daily to hit out at Greece, which is the first landing point for many migrants traveling to Europe. He said Macedonian border police had registered 9,000 refugees carrying counterfeit passports and travel documents.
Greece 'too lenient'
"So-called refugees travel with false identities throughout Europe," he told "Bild," "and Greece just gives them a stamp allowing them to continue their journey."
Ivanov said it could be assumed that many radical fighters have used the main refugee routes through Greece and the Balkans to reach Europe, and most had carried false documents.
Ivanov said that despite being a non-EU country, Macedonia had protected Europe on behalf of Greece, an EU member.
Over the past decade, Macedonia has been attempting to join the EU, as well as NATO, but negotiations have stalled due to a veto by Greece.
Ivanov denounced how Macedonia had "always been a victim of the EU institutions," claiming that "for 25 years we've been lied to and manipulated."
"Macedonia had achieved nothing out of the European Union, no EU membership, no Schengen zone and not NATO," he said. "Nobody wants us."
Chaos may define daytime in Idomeni, where 12,000 people are camping at the Greek-Macedonian border, but nighttime brings a strange air of peace beneath smoke-filled skies. Diego Cupolo reports.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
After dark
When night falls, hundreds of campfires are lit using firewood collected during the day and a serene smoke fills the air. In stark contrast to the days, which are filled with protests, TV cameras and, at times, violent riots, nights in Idomeni are relatively peaceful, allowing the camp's inhabitants to unwind - that is, if they have shelter.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Tent city
About 12,000 asylum-seekers have packed into Idomeni, a refugee camp designed for 2,500, turning the surrounding farm fields into a labyrinth of tents pitched between campfires. Arriving by bus, taxi or on foot, people trying to reach Northern Europe are being stopped by tighter controls at the Macedonia border and have opted to wait here, hoping the border will reopen.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Tense but calm
"The camp's well-organized and people are relatively calm again, but I think the situation is going to burst at any moment," said Kalliopi Mitelineos, a victim identification specialist for A21, an NGO focusing on human trafficking. "The borders aren't going to operate like they used to, and Greece is not prepared for this. We don't have money for this."
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Away from the cameras
Some joke, saying the crisis has brought as many journalists to Idomeni as refugees, but Yazan, a Syrian guitarist, said he avoids cameras during the day. "I try to stay out of photos because I don't want my family to see me like this. They ask me how it's going and I never tell them anything close to the truth."
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Group tents
Having lost everything but his guitar during his crossing to Samos, Yazan said he spent his first few nights in Idomeni inside group tents until a humanitarian worker gave him a one-person tent. "The people working in this camp are so nice," he said. "I don't think we could stay calm without their help."
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Out in the open
Despite the 24-hour presence of aid workers, people who arrive late at night are more likely to sleep out in the open due to limited supplies. To address the problem, vans operated by Save the Children, as well as independent volunteers, have begun patrolling the camp after midnight to deliver tents to families without shelter.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
'Completely legal'
Currently, asylum-seekers who register in Greece receive documents granting them 30 days in the country. "What they are doing is completely legal," said a Greek policeman speaking on condition of anonymity of the people waiting in Idomeni to continue north. "But now they are new and they have money. I don't know what they'll do when they run out of money. I don't know where they'll go."
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
Selling through the night
"If you are looking for something in this camp, you ask around and the next day you will find someone selling it at the entrance," Yazan said of the many Greek and Arabic vendors who have set up stands near Idomeni. From cigarettes to aluminum pots and halal burgers, one can find an array of products at all hours.
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
When it rains
Rain brings mud to the camp and often ruins tents not designed to withstand moisture. Sam Ismail, a former peshmerga soldier from Kirkuk, Iraq, complained of the weather. "In the night, I wake up and my blankets are wet inside the tent even if it didn't rain," he said. "I don't understand the weather here. The air is so humid."
Image: DW/D. Cupolo
All eyes on the border
Currently, between 50-200 people are crossing the Macedonian border per day. Though the acceptance rate is far below the number of daily arrivals in Idomeni, Ismail said he will do whatever it takes to reach his brother in England. "It took me six tries to get from Turkey to Greece. Do they really think I will stop here?"
