FYROM extends state of emergency at borders

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has extended the state of emergency at its southern and northern borders until June 2019 in an effort to reduce illegal border crossings by migrants.

Parliament approved the measure for the borders with Greece and Serbia because of increased migratory flows.

Balkan states closed their borders in early 2016 to migrants heading from Greece to Europe's prosperous heartland. But FYROM police say more than 6,600 illegal crossings of the country's borders were recorded in the first half of 2018.

Police teams from several EU nations are helping their peers in FYROM to patrol the borders.

FYROM first declared a state of emergency at its border areas in August 2015 after tens of thousands of transient migrants illegally entered the country. [AP]