'A great shame for European culture'

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accused neighbouring Macedonia yesterday of "shaming" Europe by using what he said was tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of migrants who tried to breach the border at the weekend.

"Faced with people who were clearly not armed and constituted no serious threat, they attacked with chemicals, with tear gas and rubber bullets," Tsipras told reporters.

"This is a great shame for European culture and for countries who want to be part of it," he said, calling on the EU and the UN refugee agency to take a stand on the issue.

President Prokopis Pavlopoulos also weighed in to the row, saying countries which display such "unacceptable and incomprehensible behaviour" have "no place in the EU or Nato", without naming Macedonia directly.

Macedonia says police on the Greek side failed to intervene as around 3,000 migrants "violently" tried to cross the frontier in Sunday's incident. Skopje also denied any use of rubber bullets, although Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it had treated 30 people for such wounds.