Greek ambassador returns to Austria, ending spat

The Greek ambassador has returned to Austria, formally ending strains that began after the shut-down of the migrant route to central Europe left tens of thousands stranded in Greece.

The closing of the West Balkan route was orchestrated in Austria, and Greece reacted by pulling its ambassador back to Athens in late February. For weeks, chaos ruled on Greece's western border, where many of the more than 40,000 stranded migrants tried to push into the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), the first stop on the now-closed Western Balkans route.

The crisis has eased, with arrivals dropping since Greece started returning people arriving clandestinely from Turkey under a March deal with the EU.

Ambassador Chryssoula Aliferi returned Wednesday, accompanying Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias on his official visit.

[AP]