Croatia Closes Serbia Road Borders

This was a direct result of Hungary closing its border with Serbia, leaving thousands stranded.

Its seizure of the train from Croatia is the latest development in a row that has left the fate of thousands of migrants uncertain.

“What else can we do?” he said. You are welcome in Croatia and you can pass through Croatia.

Local reports said on Friday that at least 23 buses with about 1,700 migrants had arrived in the border area, accompanied by the Croatian policemen.

Some 17,000 migrants have entered Croatia since Thursday morning, officials said.

Many are Syrians and Iraqis fleeing war, who are seeking safety and prosperity in Germany and elsewhere in Western Europe.

Mr Milanovic, the Croatian leader, appealed on Friday to the European Union to step in and help. “We also need to show we have a brain”.

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a newspaper interview that Germany, Austria, Sweden and Italy can not bear all the burden of migrants coming to Europe, but some countries, mostly in eastern Europe, have opposed consensus on the distribution of migrants according to pre-determined quotas.

“Our capacity is absolutely full, we are asking from them that all the countries on the way, on the route – that means Greece, Macedonia and Serbia – they have to respect all contracts, all memorandums, all conventions”.

Meanwhile, aides to Pope Francis said he was putting up a Syrian refugee family from Damascus in a Vatican apartment. It also summoned Croatia’s ambassador to complain that Croatia is dumping refugees near Hungary. Migrants slept on streets, on train tracks and at a petrol station.

Croatian officials said earlier that every border crossing with Serbia except the main road linking Belgrade and Zagreb – at Bajakovo – had been closed. A large truck lifted barriers onto the bridge. Women screamed and children cried.

He said 6,500 had entered in the past 24 hours. But that move has resulted in as many as 14,000 people entering the country of 4.2 million people. About 100 people were held on Friday at a makeshift processing centre in the border town of Berizce.

Croatia, its newest member state, says it may have to use the army to stop illegal migrants criss-crossing the western Balkans in their quest for sanctuary in the 28-nation bloc.

Croatia has been forced to close nearly all of its borders with Serbia as it struggles to cope with a sudden surge of migrants desperate to cross into the EU.

Croatia says it is already overwhelmed with refugees and is calling on both Hungary and Slovenia to open their borders.