Tensions have been rising in particular in the Slovenian border village of Rigonce, where residents are increasingly disgruntled at the sight of thousands crossing from Croatia.
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Seehofer has described it as scandalous that Austria transports thousands of refugees through its country to the German border without the consent of Berlin.
Commenting on the incident, Mikl-Leitner, member of OeVP, said that authorities “know that in recent days and weeks individual groups of migrants have become more impatient, aggressive and emotional”. Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was planning to address the issue with Faymann Wednesday, a spokeswoman said, while commending Austria’s approach to the crisis at a Sunday meeting.
Merkel will lead a business delegation to China during the two-day visit, a spokesman for the German embassy said.
Slovenia has also threatened to erect a barrier at its Croatian frontier if an European Union action plan announced at Sunday’s Balkans summit failed to produce quick results in tackling the crisis. German police said they had picked up more than 11,000 people at the Austrian border on Monday alone.
The premier of the state of Bavaria criticised Austria on Tuesday for failing to coordinate the flow of migrants into southern Germany even as he renewed a challenge to Chancellor Angela Merkel over her management of the refugee crisis. He said Serbia would not “put up any walls” like Hungary’s new razor wire-topped border fences.
Most migrants land first in Greece but, desperate to get to Germany and wealthier northern European countries, thousands have pushed on rather than staying there to have their asylum applications processed as is required under EU rules. Syrian citizens are mostly being accepted, but Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said numerous Afghans pouring into the country will likely be sent home.
“Our goal is to make from the (European) interior market a digital market, so that we can be competitive in the global competition”, Merkel said.
Migrants walk along a road after crossing the border between Austria and Germany in Wegscheid near Passau, Wednesday, October 28, 2015.
They also agreed to deploy EU’s border security agency Fontex’s staff along the border between Greece, Macedonia, Albania and Serbia.
Hungary has already fenced off its border with Serbia and Croatia, so such a move would, in theory, mean sealing off completely the migrants’ route through the Balkans. “If this doesn’t happen, we have to consider what other options we have”, he said, without elaborating.
Slovenian prime minister Miro Cerar said his small Alpine nation was being overwhelmed by the refugees and was not receiving enough help from its European Union partners.
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Berlin expects 800,000 people to arrive in Germany this year with the intention of applying for asylum-equivalent to roughly 1% of the population-and several officials have said the number could easily rise to over a million.
