About: Balkan route
Bosnians protest against migrant influx in border town
Several hundred Bosnians protested on Sunday (16 June) against an influx of migrants in the western border town of Bihac, warning of security and health risks from thousands sleeping rough. Bosnia, spared the big migrant wave of 2015, is now...
EU officials fear new wave of migrants after Greek court ruling
A top Greek court ruled on Wednesday (18 April) that migrants landing on Greek islands should no longer be held there while asylum claims are assessed, a decision raising alarm among EU officials in Brussels.
Migrants take new Balkan route through Bosnia
A new Balkan route through Bosnia has opened up for migrants, four years after a crisis in which more than one million people landed on Europe's shores.
Desperate Europe-bound migrants turn to capricious Black Sea
While the arrival of exhausted migrants may be common on Mediterranean shores, it's a rare sight on the Black Sea coastline. But a string of recent arrivals from Turkey suggests it may be emerging as part of a new 'Romanian route' to western Europe.
Austria’s ‘Wunderwuzzi’ on course for election win at just 31
Tall, tanned and only 31, Austria's rising political star Sebastian Kurz oozed confidence as he strode to blaring pop music into Graz's main square -- seemingly with good reason.
Report: Western Balkans route not closed, just diverted via Bulgaria
A report by a German think tank reveals the deficiencies of the deal with Turkey to stem the flow of refugees to Europe. Migration is on the menu of the two-day summit starting today (22 June).
Tusk tells Macedonia, paralysed by political crisis, to focus on EU entry
European Council President Donald Tusk said in Macedonia yesterday (3 April) he hoped the country's leaders would avoid fuelling ethnic tensions and focus on advancing towards EU membership instead.
Balkan migration route is ‘not closed’
One year on from when the borders were sealed, refugees are still using South East Europe to enter the EU. But now the journey is more difficult, expensive and brutal. EURACTIV’s partner Der Tagesspiegel reports.
Slovenia toughens law to prevent another influx of migrants
Slovenia's government approved amendments to its law on foreigners on Thursday (5 January) to enable police to seal the country's borders to illegal migrants for a limited period if needed.
Macedonian nationalist ex-PM set to win election in test for EU
Macedonia's veteran nationalist leader Nikola Gruevski looks set for a comeback in Sunday's (11 December) parliamentary election, posing a challenge to the European Union and its strategy of coaxing Balkan nations to make painful reforms in exchange for aid.
Alarm over effectiveness of EU-Turkey refugee deal grows in Brussels
Some seven months after the European Union and Turkey struck an agreement to turn back the tide of Syrians fleeing west, very few refugees have been sent back from Greece, and Brussels is losing its patience as overcrowded camps grow violent.
‘Balkan route’ nations turn away from EU solution to refugee crisis
European countries on the route used by more than a million migrants to reach the continent last year agreed on Saturday (24 September) to focus on the more easily achievable ways of preventing another influx than the big issues the EU is divided over, Austria said.
Greece balks at ‘unacceptable’ German plans to send back refugees
Germany's interior minister wants to start sending refugees back to Greece next year, but Athens has already given the plan short shrift. EURACTIV's partner Der Tagesspiegel reports.
Borissov: ‘Absolute non-solidarity’ reigns in the EU
The Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov made use of anti-EU rhetoric ahead of a visit to Turkey tomorrow (26 August), describing Ankara as Sofia’s only ally in the context of the refugee crisis.
EU set to spend €62 billion on Africa to tackle migration
The EU has made significant funds available for a migration partnership with African countries, so that asylum seekers can be intercepted before they reach the bloc's external borders. EURACTIV Germany reports.
UNHCR warns of ‘collective failure’ following London donor conference
The UNHCR warned of a “collective failure” by the international community to deliver on pledges made to help the countries which bear the heaviest burden of the Syrian refugee crisis.
Hungary says this is not a refugee crisis, but mass exodus
The measures to address the migration crisis introduced by individual member states or groups of states have been more effective than the Commission’s action, a Hungarian high official said yesterday (13 June).
Migrant spat brews between Austria and Hungary
Hungary refused yesterday (9 June) to take back any of the several thousand migrants that Austria says should be returned under EU rules, adding to a brewing spat between the two neighbours.
Greek police steps up evacuation of Idomeni border camp
Greek police yesterday (24 May) transferred some two thousand refugees out of the overcrowded camp of Idomeni, launching a major operation to clear up the squalid tent city where thousands fleeing war and poverty have lived for months.
Commission set to propose lifting of visa requirement for Turkey
Despite deep public misgivings in some countries, the European Union will this week drive forward a plan to grant Turks visa-free travel to Europe as a reward for having reduced a flood of refugees and migrants into Europe to a trickle.
Georgieva urges Eastern Europe to contribute more to border security
Kristalina Georgieva has called upon Eastern European countries that are struggling to deal with the influx of refugees to increase their efforts to secure the EU's external borders. EURACTIV's partner Tagesspiegel reports.
Idomeni refugee camp: Europe’s ‘catastrophe’
12,000 refugees remain in limbo in the Greek border town of Idomeni. Karl Kopp, of German immigration organisation Pro Asyl, told EURACTIV's partner Tagesspiegel that they need a political and humanitarian situation.
Bulgaria fears becoming alternative route for refugees
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has asked that the plan to return migrants arriving in Greece to Turkey, also applies to his country, the press in Sofia reports ahead of the EU summit beginning today (17 March).