Croatia diverts migrants to Slovenia after Hungary border closure
A first bus full
of migrants arrived at a Slovenian border crossing with Croatia on
Saturday, the Slovenian police said, after Hungary shut its border with
Croatia late on Friday, diverting them toward Slovenia.Hungary's
action to close its southern border is indicative of Europe’s
disjointed response to the flow of people fleeing war and poverty.
Slovenian police said the bus had arrived at a border crossing from Croatia and that the passengers would be registered.
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But
Slovenia has canceled all rail traffic with fellow European Union
member and former Yugoslav republic Croatia, potentially slowing the
movement of people just as autumn winds and rain are sweeping through
the Balkans.
Forty-three buses
packed with migrants, many of them refugees from the war in Syria, were
stacked up at Serbia’s western border with Croatia in the village of
Berkasovo, a Reuters reporter said. Croatia had only allowed five buses
to enter in the morning and some had been queuing through the night.
Hungary
has erected a steel fence almost the length of its southern frontier
with Serbia and Croatia, saying 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.
SECURITY COUNCIL
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 from Turkey before heading north
through Macedonia and Serbia.
Slovenia,
a small country of two million people, says it can accommodate up to
8,000 migrants per day before they continue their journey west to
Austria and Germany, the chosen destination for the vast majority.
“The bus is on the border crossing (Gruskovje)
and the migrants will now go through a registration process,” police
spokesman Bojan Kitel said of the first bus to arrive on Saturday after
Hungary’s border closure.
Slovenia and Croatia said on Friday they would not restrict the flow so long as Austria and Germany keep their doors open.
Slovenia
said it was in talks with Croatia possibly to direct the flow of
migrants through only two border crossings. Slovenia’s national security
council was due to meet later on Saturday.
The
police told Reuters migrants are expected to enter Slovenia on Saturday
through border crossings Gruskovje and Petisovci, which are both
located in eastern Slovenia, not far from the border with Hungary.
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