Macedonia’s army sealed several border crossings with Greece on Thursday, as the government declared a “crisis situation” in response to a sharp influx of refugees trying to reach western Europe. The decision to activate the military comes as thousands of refugees, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, have entered the country from Greece, opting to travel to western Europe along the Balkan land route, instead of a more dangerous Mediterranean Sea crossing. “The government decision is to enable deployment of more personnel on the ground because of the crisis,” said Nikola Poposki, foreign minister. He emphasised that the government had not declared a formal state of emergency, which requires parliamentary approval. “In reality, it’s almost impossible to control illegal crossings but we must do our best to secure humane treatment of all cases and for that, resources are needed,” he added. More than 110,000 refugees arrived in Europe in July alone, the highest number on record, indicating an intensifying refugee crisis. Migrants are fleeing war-torn countries in the Middle East, with many of them travelling through the former Yugoslavia.