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 More than 20,000 migrants, many of them Syrian refugees, have
streamed into Croatia since Hungary on Tuesday barred their route to
the European Union through its southern border with Serbia with a
metal fence, tear gas and water cannon.
Warning it was losing control, Croatian Prime Minister Zoran
Milanovic said his country would give them food, water and medical
attention, and send them on their way.
There were increasingly ugly exchanges between the two countries,
reflecting the anger and ill-feeling between the EU’s 28 member
states over what to do with the hundreds of thousands of migrants
reaching its shores, fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East,
Africa and Asia.
EU leaders are to hold a summit on Wednesday, trying again to reach
agreement on how to share out about 120,000 people. Even then, more
are on their way, flowing by the several thousand every day over
Balkans borders having reached Greece from Turkey by boat and
dinghy.
 Hungary said more than 5,000 had crossed from Croatia by bus and
train on Friday. More were expected on Saturday and at least 20
buses on the Hungarian side of the border lined up in the village of
Beremend waiting to pick them up.
"There was no agreement (with Hungary). We forced them, by sending
people up there. And we’ll keep doing it," Milanovic told reporters
in the northeastern town of Beli Manastir, from where many of the
buses and trains have been leaving for the short trip to Hungary.
Hungarian soldiers are racing to build a fence like the one on the
border with Serbia along a stretch of the Croatian frontier too, and
have rolled out coils of razor wire. Milanovic was dismissive of the
move. "Borders can only be closed by brute force," he said, "and
that means killing."
On Croatia’s western flank, 1,200 migrants have crossed into
Slovenia, like Hungary a member of Europe’s Schengen zone of
border-free travel. Crowds were building on Saturday at border
crossings, kept back by riot police who briefly fired pepper spray
late on Friday. Police began letting through small groups.
SLOVENIAN CORRIDOR?
"I feel frustrated, we’re so tired," said Siha, 35, from the Syrian
city of Aleppo, the country’s commercial hub reduced in many parts
to rubble since the Syrian war began in 2011. With two small
children, she was waiting on a bridge in no-man’s land at the
Harmica border crossing into Slovenia.
“We left Turkey 10 days ago. The trip was very dangerous for the
kids. I decided to leave Syria because I want my kids to have a
comfortable life, to study,” Siha said.
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Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar said he would discuss with
neighboring countries the possibility of creating a “corridor”
through the country if the influx became too much.
Hungary said it would send a diplomatic protest note to Croatia.
In a telephone call with his Croatian counterpart, Hungarian Foreign
Minister Peter Szijjarto asked why Croatia was sending “thousands of
unregistered immigrants” to their border “in complete violation of
European law”, the Foreign Ministry said.
The migrants entering Hungary from Croatia were being registered and
sent to reception centers near the Austrian border, from where they
would likely cross to Austria and on to Germany, the favored
destination for the vast majority.
An aide to right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban
suggested Budapest may block Croatia’s accession to Europe’s
Schengen zone "if Croatia puts up its hands and says, 'No', I don't
want to defend the borders.”
Late on Friday, with tempers fraying, Hungary said it had “seized” a
Croatian train carrying migrants to the Hungarian town of
Magyarboly, disarmed the police escorting it and arrested the
driver.
A Hungarian government spokesman said the incident “raised the
suspicion of a border violation”. But a statement by the Hungarian
police on Saturday said the Croatian officers were unarmed and
escorted back to the border.
Milanovic said the Hungarians were “just showing off.”
(Additional reporting by Maja Zuvela in TOVARNIK, Croatia; Thomas
Escritt in BUDAPEST; Igor Ilic in ZAGREB and Marja Novak in
LJUBLJANA; Writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
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