NATO: TERRORISTS, CRIMINALS, ARE FLOWING INTO EUROPE AND ISIS IS SPREADING LIKE CANCER:

 Terrorists, criminals and foreign fighters are flowing into Europe among migrants, the top Nato commander in Europe says. USA Air Force General Philip Breedlove said the ISIS extremist group is "spreading like a cancer” within this mix, "taking advantage of paths of least resistance, threatening European nations and our own”. Breedlove, in a testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tues.1 March 2016 said Russia's actions in Syria have "wildly exacerbated the problem”. Russia and Syrian President Bashar Assad, Breedlove said, are using migration as a weapon to overwhelm European support structures and break European resolve. He cited the use of barrel bombs, which have no military value, against civilians in Syria. The only purpose of these indiscriminate attacks is to terrorize Syrian citizens and "get them on the road,” Breedlove said. In addition to the dangers posed by terrorists hiding among refugees, he warned that opposition from local nationalists in Europe to the large influx of migrants could lead to violence.

More than 27,000 refugees have been stranded in Greece after countries along the migrant route created a bottleneck by following Austria's lead in introducing limits on the number they will let pass. For 19 miles along the boundary with Macedonia, the parallel lines of 8ft fencing keep thousands of migrants trapped in Greece. On Tues. 1 March 2016, Austria and the Balkan countries refused to ease border restrictions that have led to the Greeks being sealed off from the rest of the Continent. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, also on Tues. performed a major U-turn when she told migrants trying to leave Greece they could not choose which European country they move to and should stay there. (UK Daily Mail)