Fires Cause Hours-Long Shutdown Of Major Greece- North Macedonian Border Crossing

Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia: Wildfires on Wednesday forced a major border crossing between Greece and North Macedonia that is popular with tourists to be closed for several hours, officials said.

North Macedonia's interior Ministry said that the crossing between the village of Bogorodica and Greece's Evzoni had been closed for safety.

The crossing is popular with tourists travelling to Greece by car -- with as many as 20,000 people passing through this section of the border per day during the summer high season, according to North Macedonia Police figures.

"We appeal to citizens not to drive towards the border until an announcement that the fire is extinguished and traffic normalised," the ministry had said in a statement earlier on Wednesday.

The Greek fire department said 39 firefighters with 12 fire engines and one helicopter had been mobilised to battle the blaze.

Local media reports said the area was inundated with smoke, while dozens of cars were seemingly stranded on the North Macedonia side.

The interior ministry later confirmed that the border had been reopened on Wednesday afternoon after being closed for several hours.

North Macedonia has been hit by a series of wildfires in the last week as authorities struggle to contain the blazes amid a prolonged heat wave with temperatures over 40 degrees.

During an emergency government session over the weekend, North Macedonia lawmakers declared a crisis situation -- falling short of calling for a state of emergency -- "due to increased occurrence of wildfires".

A state of crises is proclaimed when the public and property face serious risks or dangers, which demands an injection of significant government resources.
The government also approved the deployment of the police and army to fight the fires.

On Monday, officials banned residents from entering the country's vast forests and mountainous areas.

Experts say human-driven climate change is causing more frequent and more intense wildfires and other natural disasters, including heatwaves.

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