Refugees continue on overland route through Europe despite winter

Winter weather further complicates overland route to Western Europe

Refugess continue to journey across Macedonia and the Balkans on the overland routefrom Greece to wealthier European Union countries despite worsening conditions.

Liene Veide (not pictured), a spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency, saidaround 2,000 migrants continue to cross from Macedonia into Serbia daily, even as temperatures dip below -19 C.

Flow of asylum seekers has continued despite some EU countries trying to stem the flow

The borders of Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia reopened to northbound asylum seekers last week

but only to those whose stated their final destination as Germany or Austria

The limitation follows a new Austrian cap onthe number of refugees it wants to accept 37,500 this year and a total of 127,500 through 2019.

The German government also wants the number of migrants coming to the country to fall significantly after almost 1.1 million asylum seekers arrived in 2015.

Greece blamed for failing to stem the tide of refugees

Macedonian authorities, along with Balkan states Serbia and Croatia, have taken aim at Greece for what they say is that country's failure to controlitsMediterranean island borders.

Slovenia, another country on the Balkan migration route, has urged its EU partners to provide "maximum assistance to the Macedonian authorities" by sending border police from the integratedFrontexsecurity agency thereto deal with the crisis.

Syrian, Iraqi andAfghan refugees with papers permitted to pass

In November, Macedonia and other Balkan countries imposed a first check on transient migrants, excluding all but Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans, whom they deem refugees and not economic migrants.