DailyMail.com :
(From previous issue)
‘You are not a parking lot for refugees, you are also victims of the situation and we won’t leave you,’ European Union Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn told the Macedonian parliament.
‘All the countries of the EU are targets of the refugee stream and have the task to protect the external borders,’ he said.
Hahn said the EU was ‘fully committed to defend you (Macedonia), but also Serbia and other countries from the Western Balkans.’
Tens of thousands of migrants have been pouring into Balkan countries in a bid to cross into the EU’s visa-free travel zone and go on to Germany, which has opened its doors to Syrian refugees.
Roads leading to the Croatian border crossing were closed last night and only one, linking Belgrade and Zagreb, appeared to still be open.
This morning, Slovenia suspended all rail traffic with Croatia until at least the evening and said that only those ‘meeting EU requirements’ would be allowed to enter the country, as it braced itself for the arrival of migrants from its neighbours.
Tents and shelters were being prepared in several parts of Slovenia, a member of the European Union and, unlike Croatia, of the passport-free Schengen Zone. The small country of two million people also borders Austria and Italy as well as Hungary.
Prime Minister Miro Cerar said late last night on state television that Slovenia would implement Schengen rules and that ‘only those meeting the EU’s requirements can be allowed to cross the border.’
The government also called an emergency meeting of its National Security Council on Friday to discuss the next steps.
The first larger group of some 150 migrants arrived on Thursday evening, crossing the Croatia-Slovenia border by train and were stopped just over the border in Dobova.
Local police initially planned to send them back to Croatia but despite hours of talks Croatia refused to accept them.
Slovenian authorities then moved the migrants to a centre in the west of the country ‘while a procedure for their return to Croatia is agreed,’ Slovenian police said.
Overnight another 100 migrants were intercepted attempting to crossing the border near the main border crossing of Obrezje, police spokeswoman Alenka Drenik said.
Slovenian media had reported late on Thursday that a group of around 600 migrants had left a refugee camp near Zagreb and marched towards the Obrezje border crossing, some 12.5 miles to the west of the Croatian capital.
At the Obrezje border crossing, the main road towards Croatia, the situation remained calm this morning with an increased number of police deployed on both sides although small groups of migrants could be seen arriving.
Yesterday, helmeted riot police tried to control growing crowds of refugees at the Croatian border town of Tovarnik, as thousands of migrants jostled to board buses after crossing into the country from neighbouring Serbia.
But most of the migrants and refugees are not planning to stay in the EU’s newest member state. Already, many of those have reached the borders with Slovenia and Hungary, which are both part of the passport-free Schengen zone, leading to harsh words from Hungarian ministers.
Meanwhile, Czech police and military will conduct a joint drill to be ready to deal with a possible increased numbers of migrants.
The drill will be conducted along the country’s borders and will include hundreds of service members with planes and helicopters.
Interior Minister Milan Cjovanec says its goal is ‘to test the ability of the forces to cooperate in crisis situations.’
Friday’s announcement comes three days after Prime Minster Bohuslav Sobotka said his government is ready to deploy the armed forces to protect the country’s borders against migrants.
Czech police already boosted its presence on the Austrian-Czech border on Sunday in response to Germany’s decision to renew border controls along its border with Austria. But the Czechs haven’t renewed border checks yet.
In Slovenia police stopped a train with some 200 refugees on board – the largest number to attempt to enter the country in one go, according to police.
The Swiss government is offering to take in up to 1,500 refugees under a European Union plan to redistribute 40,000 people around the continent.
Meanwhile, close to 1,000 migrants arrived on a single train in Beli Manastir, on the Hungarian border, where 20 police officers were on hand to encourage them to spend the night in a disused military base.
Long queues formed for buses bound for migrant reception centres elsewhere in Croatia yesterday, stretching the country’s infrastructure to breaking point. Over 100 riot police officers were deployed to control the crowds and keep them back from railway tracks. One man is said to have suffered a heart attack.
In the capital Zagreb, riot officers surrounded a hotel housing hundreds of refugees after they began chanting ‘Freedom! Freedom!’ and throwing rolls of toilet paper from balconies and windows.
Thanks to its close proximity to the Serbia, thousands of migrants are expected to pass over the Croatia-Hungary border in the coming days, despite the fact it was heavily mined during the Balkans War in the 1990s and remains incredibly dangerous.
The news comes as Hungary faces worldwide condemnation for using tear gas to disperse crowds at its border, with Serbia’s prime minister Aleksandar Vucic accusing the country of ‘brutal’ and ‘non-European’ behaviour towards migrants and warning it not to fire tear gas onto its territory again.
Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic said late last night that the country was prepared for the arrival of migrants but could not cope if the numbers increased dramatically.
‘We are ready to (provide) asylum to a few thousand people and we can handle that, but we are not ready for tens of thousands,’ Pusic told HRT. ‘We do not have capacities’ for such an influx, she added.
Yesterday around 4,000-5,000 migrants attempted to board trains to the Croatian capital Zagreb from the small town of Tovarnik after crossing the border with Serbia, the UN refugee agency said.
‘There are between 4,000 and 5,000 people here,’ Jan Kapic, a UNHCR spokesman, said from Tovarnik station in eastern Croatia. ‘Trains are coming but they can’t take all these people.’
Up to 5,000 people arrived at the tiny train station overnight. The station was overwhelmed as people slept all along the side of the tracks, with only a handful of Red Cross workers on hand to give out food and provisions for the hundreds of babies and children there.
More help was on the way, said Kapic, including medical assistance and toilets, the first of which we’re being delivered around 9 am.
‘For now we have enough but more will be needed and is on the way…It is very hard to say if this will become the next transit camp. It is down to the Croatian government how it deals with this,’ he added.
Kapic also said that the migrants were now coming straight to the train station without going to the police station for registration, with police overwhelmed by the numbers.
It is unclear where the migrants would go from Croatia, which borders Slovenia, Austria and Hungary, all of which are members of the passport-free Schengen zone, unlike Croatia.
Route: New arrivals are entering Croatia via its eastern border, which has become the route of choice for those hoping to reach western Europe. Thanks to its close proximity to the Serbia, thousands of migrants are expected to pass over the Croatia-Hungary border in the coming days, despite the fact it was heavily mined during the Balkans War in the 1990s and remains incredibly dangerous
Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic was due to hold talks in Zagreb with his Austrian counterpart, Chancellor Werner Faymann. Faymann would then travel to Ljubljana to meet Slovenian premier Miro Cerar, his office said.
Milanovic had vowed that his country would allow free passage of migrants across its territory. A crisis meeting of Croatia’s top security body, the National Security Council, was set tot take place today.
There will be an emergency summit of EU member leaders in Brussels next week to find a solution. European Commission plans to spread 160,000 refugees among member states are already being overhauled.
When asked to defend its ‘shambolic’ handling of the crisis, commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said: ‘Shambles or not, that’s how the EU works.’
Sweden – one of the countries of choice for those trying to start a new life in Europe – has reported more than 1,000 new arrivals daily, with 5,214 people applying for asylum in the seven days to Tuesday.
Most are from Syria, but the numbers from Afghanistan and Iraq are also growing.
There has also been a surge in unaccompanied minors seeking asylum, with 923 such cases registered in the seven-day period.
Croatia, a former Yugoslav republic, has some 6,000 border police deployed. Since the start of the crisis the Croatian authorities have urged solidarity with migrants, recalling its own role in accommodating hundreds of thousands of refugees during the 1990s Balkans wars.
Croatian authorities say they are forming a special body to deal with the influx.
Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic said the country has the situation under control. But he warned that ‘if huge waves start coming through Serbia we must consider different moves.’
Croatia represents a longer and more arduous route into Europe for the asylum-seekers from Syria and elsewhere who have been fleeing into Europe in the past months.
But they have little choice after Hungary sealed off its southern border with Serbia on Tuesday and began arresting anyone caught trying to enter the country illegally.
(To be continued)
