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 Hungary’s right-wing government declared its southern frontier
with Croatia off limits to migrants, blocking entry with a metal
fence and razor wire just as it did a month ago on its border with
Serbia.
Croatia began directing migrants west to Slovenia, which said some
300 had arrived and would be registered before continuing their
journey to Austria and Germany, the preferred destination of the
vast majority, many of them Syrians fleeing war.
But their movement had slowed visibly, with dozens of buses lined up
at Serbia’s border with Croatia through the night and into Saturday
as Croatian police controlled their entry, a Reuters reporter said.
Slovenia suspended rail traffic with Croatia.
Aid agencies are concerned about backlogs of migrants building in
the Balkans, battered by autumn winds and rain as temperatures drop
before winter.
Hungary said it had reinstated border controls on its frontier with
Slovenia, effectively suspending Europe’s Schengen system of
passport-free travel. Both Slovenia and Hungary are part of the
Schengen Area while Croatia is not.
A government spokesman said Budapest had taken the step because
“migrants appeared” on the Slovenian side of the border.
Slovenia, a small country of two million people, says it can
accommodate up to 8,000 migrants per day. Both Ljubljana and Zagreb
say they will not restrict the flow so long as Austria and Germany
keep their doors open.
'DOMINO EFFECT'
Hungary says it is duty-bound to secure the borders of the European
Union from mainly Muslim migrants threatening, it says, the
prosperity, security and “Christian values” of Europe.
Budapest is among several ex-Communist members of the EU that oppose
an EU plan to share out 120,000 refugees among its members. That is
only a small proportion of the 700,000 migrants expected to reach
Europe’s shores by boat and dinghy from North Africa and Turkey this
year, many of them fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East,
Africa and Asia.
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At a summit in Brussels on Thursday, the EU offered Turkey a
possible three billion euros ($3.4 billion) in aid and the prospect
of easier travel visas and "re-energised" talks on joining the bloc
if it would help stem the flow of migrants across its territory.
But Hungary said this fell short of Budapest’s demands, which
include formation of a common force to protect the borders of
Greece, where most migrants arrive across the Aegean Sea from Turkey
before heading north through Macedonia and Serbia.
Asked what would happen if Germany was to close its doors, Croatia's
interior minister warned of a "domino effect".
“It will be a lot of trouble for all countries and I cannot predict
what will happen in this situation,” Ranko Ostojic, speaking in
English, told reporters at a migrant camp in the eastern Croatian
village of Opatovac.
“They are risking their lives and nobody is able to stop this flow
... without shooting.”
(Additional reporting by Fedja Grulovic in BERKOSOVO, Serbia, Marton
Dunai in ZAKANY, Hungary and Krisztina Than in BUDAPEST; writing by
Matt Robinson; editing by Jason Neely)
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