PH
Migrants flooding into Croatia will be “moved on”, PM Zoran Milanovic has warned, adding that his country cannot become a “migrant hotspot”.
He said the country’s borders would not be shut completely, but it had reached its limit.
His remarks came as Croatia closed seven of eight road crossings after a huge influx of migrants seeking onward passage towards northern Europe.
More than 14,000 have entered Croatia, with tensions high and many exhausted.
Huge numbers heading north through the Balkans have triggered an EU crisis.
Many are fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
In other developments:
- Czech police and military are to conduct a joint drill along the country’s borders to enhance co-operation in “crisis situations”
- A migrant thought to be Syrian is electrocuted at the entrance to the Eurotunnel in Calais
- The International Organisation for Migration says 473,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe this year, including more than 180,000 Syrians
- German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says EU members reluctant to accept migrant quotas might have to be over-ruled with a majority vote at a summit on 23 September
Mr Milanovic said Croatia would now begin helping migrants move on, adding that it would be easier to send them to Hungary than Slovenia.
“We have a heart, but we also have a brain,” he said. “These are too many people. We can’t cope.
“They will get food, water and medical help, and then they can move on. The European Union must know that Croatia will not become a migrant hotspot.”
