Serbia threatens retaliation over Croatia truck blockade

Anadolu said the refugees would be returned to the provinces where they registered.

Serbia has poor capacities to deal with such a big number of migrants who are arriving daily, mainly across the border with Macedonia.

Kovacs called it a precautionary measure.

The increasingly acidic tone of exchanges is reminiscent of that used during the wars that accompanied the disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, when nationalists on both sides capitalized on the country’s economic collapse and fanned ethnic tensions, touching off a bloody conflict that killed tens of thousands.

Kirka reported from Zagreb, Croatia. The two nations have a tense history after fighting each other in the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

Slovenia, like Hungary, also appeared unwilling to take in the inflow. “They don’t want to stay here, but they live under bad conditions”.

On Tuesday afternoon, Croatia started letting trucks carrying foodstuff from Serbia cross the border, but Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, who wants all cargo traffic restored, said that was not enough.

“Mix it up a little”, Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said. He says if they do, “we will have to replace some of the Croatian goods with ones from Serbia and other countries”. “Croatia has breached all European agreements and directives”.

Croatia for its part is angry that Serbia is busing migrants to its border rather than sending them north to Hungary.

The Calais prefecture’s office said the man’s body was discovered around 2 a.m. Thursday by rescue workers near the tracks.

Joanna Kakissis, reporting from the border region, says Serbia has closed its border to Croatians in retaliation.

He added that the Serbian government is “ready to contribute even more to solving the migrant crisis and that Serbia, although not a member of the European Union, has accepted the suggestion of European Union officials”.

Orban cited Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, who “clearly said that if we can only stop them with the fence, then we should rather let them through. This is what must be considered”.

Seeking to reassure state governors, whom she is meeting with later in the day, Merkel said Germany can meet the challenges.

Croatia has opened a transit camp in hopes of inserting order into the chaos and to provide the thousands with food, water and medical attention.

The meeting Thursday in Berlin is aimed at improving cooperation between national and local authorities, and speeding up the bureaucratic process of asylum claims.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, whose country is absorbing most of those pouring into Europe, said Germany would take more than 30,000 of the 120,000 asylum seekers.

Hungary has sealed off its borders, making it a criminal offense to illegally enter the country. But the action is crippling Serbia’s economy, which transports cargo across Croatia to reach much of Europe.