Dissent, squabbles: Migrant crisis takes toll on EU

BRUSSELS -- The European Union's once-tight unity is being rapidly eroded as hundreds of thousands of refugees and other migrants walk a well-trodden path through the Balkans and into the bloc's heartland.

As some EU countries move to restrict new entries, those further south and east fear thousands of migrants will get stuck and overwhelm their nations.

That has prompted several to start acting unilaterally, showing little concern for coordinating with their EU partners.

"Right now the unity of the union and lives -- human lives -- are at stake," said EU migration chief Dimitris Avramopoulos at Thursday's meeting of the bloc's 28 interior ministers to assess the rapidly deteriorating situation.

The fear of crumbling unity has spread like wildfire throughout the EU in the last few days. Some see the lack of a common response to the continent's immigration crisis as a litmus test for the bloc.

This unraveling of unity is what EU President Donald Tusk has been warning about for weeks, but which now the EU seems to be unable to stop.

There are fears the migration crisis could fuel the "out" campaign for Britain's EU membership referendum June 23.

The impact of increasing go-it-alone new border restrictions and refugee quotas was evident on the ground Thursday on Greece's border with Macedonia.

Some 2,800 people massed to get into Macedonia, but only 100 were allowed to cross.

The bottleneck came after Macedonia severely restricted the number and nationalities of people it is allowing to travel across its territory and continue north toward more prosperous European countries.

Macedonian officials have said the move comes in response to similar actions by countries farther along the route, including Serbia and Austria.

"The police kept stopping us, but I couldn't wait," 23-year-old Syrian university student Walaa Jbara said near the border, clutching his smartphone. "I'm checking the news on Facebook, and I know the Macedonians are not letting people through."

Greece is getting increasingly angry about such policies.

The government recalled its ambassador from Vienna following a meeting there Wednesday where Austria and many regional European neighbors agreed to tighter border controls -- but did not invite Greece.

The border closures are squeezing Greece between the Balkan nations to the north and Turkey, where most of the refugees are coming from. If northern nations did close their borders fully, Greece's refugee reception capacity could become overwhelmed within days.

NATO is beginning a surveillance mission in the sea between Greece and Turkey, and its decision to return any rescued migrants to Turkey could help relieve some pressure on Greek reception centers.