Greek FM seeks consensus with Balkan neighbors over migration crisis

Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias on Friday announced plans for a meeting with high-ranking officials from Greece’s Balkan neighbors on the refugee crisis and renewed pressure from Austria for borders on the Balkan route into Northern Europe to remain closed.

Speaking after a meeting with his Bosnian counterpart Igor Crnadak, Kotzias said the meeting would be hosted in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, possibly after Easter in early May, and would include the participation of officials from Albania, Bulgaria and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

The aim is for Greece, which is bearing the brunt of the refugee influx after FYROM and Bulgaria sealed their borders, to reach some form of consensus with its neighbors.