Migrants surge into Western Europe through Austria

“We are so exhausted”, said Hikmat, a bare-footed 32-year-old Syrian woman from Damascus, after a journey, like many others, by sea and then through the Balkans to the border between the two former Yugoslav republics. They estimate that more than 300,000 have passed through this year.

“We were told there were 26 people in the boat in total”, a coastguard spokeswoman said. More were expected Saturday.

Refugees are arriving on Croatia’s border with Austria’s tiny neighbour, but it is still unclear when, or if Slovenia will let them through.

Tempers are fraying among some migrants trekking across Europe.

He said that he had joined in an initiative for an extraordinary meeting of the European Council to discuss the migrant issue.

Earlier on Friday, Croatia had given warning that it will close all border crossings in a bid to bar refugees from entering after about 13,000 crossed into the country in the last three days. Slovenian police have intercepted dozens of migrants who tried to cross through the forests overnight.

Czech police and military will conduct a joint drill to be ready to deal with a possible increased numbers of migrants.

Croatia on Friday said it was overwhelmed by the influx of thousands of people in just a few days and would be sending them to Slovenia and Hungary.

French prime minister Manuel Valls said the European Union must take control of its borders or the Schengen agreement “will be challenged”. But the Czechs haven’t renewed border checks yet.

“Croatia has shown it has a heart”, he said.

South Carolina Freiburg, VfL Bochum, 1. Slovenia and Hungary are treaty members and say they are protecting Europe’s borders.

FC St. Pauli, whose fans are traditionally left-wing, said earlier this week that it has long supported refugees and didn’t want to participate in Bild’s event.

In a routine procedure with a now smooth process of registration, migrants are allowed to board trains, buses or taxis heading to the northern border with Serbia.

German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel renewed a threat that countries that do not help in the migrant crisis will be deprived of European Union funds.

Croatia and Hungary bickered into the night, with Croatia saying the two countries had agreed to create a corridor for the migrants and the Hungarian Foreign Ministry calling that a “pure lie”.

Those still in Tovarnik are sitting of lying on the ground.

It wasn’t yet clear how Austria would react to the large influx of people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East and Africa.

Hungarian police said Croatian law enforcement officials who were on a train transporting migrants across border on Friday were never disarmed, as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s adviser had reportedly said.

Orban says the first phase of the 41-kilometer (25 mile) barrier will be completed on Friday, with coils of razor wire in place before an actual fence goes up. “The measure is valid until further notice”, police said in a statement. The Hungarian security forces also used tear gas, water cannons and pepper spray against the immigrants trying to cross the border.

Nineteen Croatian buses carried migrants across the border Friday to Beremend, Hungary, where they were put on Hungarian buses.

Serbian officials, fearing that the closures would confine too many refugees inside their country, protested against Croatia’s move.

On Thursday Slovenia suspended all railway traffic with Croatia after a group of some 150 migrants tried to enter the country on a train bound for Zurich in Switzerland.

Orban yesterday rebuked the European Union over its response to the refugee crisis, which has deeply shaken the bloc, which has yet to fully recover from recent agonies over a bankrupt Greece and troubled euro. “If one jumps from the 20th floor, one could view this as an expression of freedom from a liberal point of view, while in fact it looks more like suicide”. The incident constituted a “serious border violation”, government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs told M1 state TV late Friday.

But Croatia on Friday closed almost all its borders with Serbia. He wasn’t immediately able to comment on the number of refugees at the site overnight.