“If we keep going at this rate we will have relocated 160,000 people in 2101”, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said.
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“Given there has been no significant change (in the flow of migrants), the border checks will be extended for three months”, the ministry said.
(AP Photo/Darko Bandic). In this Thursday, November 5, 2015, photo, migrants prepare to spend a night in the open air, in Sentilj, Slovenia, near the border with Austria. That’s slightly more than the 1,653 who applied on Wednesday. When Hungary closed its southern border, it effectively forced migrants into Slovenia.
With Austria, Germany, Sweden and now Slovenia re-considering their border controls it means more thousands of refugee families could be stranded in the Balkans during the winter.
Europe is facing a record influx of refugees and is deeply divided on how to act.
Merkel said Friday that “we have to concentrate all our diplomatic efforts” in the face of the wave of migrants.
Further east, Bulgaria was the first in the region to fence off its border with Turkey.
Lofven said his European Union partners understand the move and called for an overhaul of the rules governing Europe’s passport-free area. Most migrants have Germany as their final destination.
Josef Ostermayer, a minister involved in policy on the migration crisis, said the fence would be around 2 metres (6.6 feet) high. He added: “The lion’s share of them do not commit crimes; they are seeking protection and peace in Germany”. The immigrants are overwhelmingly from war-torn countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The migrants crisis has been the source of tension between two European Union nations that were once were part of the same country, Yugoslavia. Europe’s leaders will be well aware of the risks its departure creates, and kicking Greece out would not actually help the situation that much. “We are not closing our borders”, Prime Minister Miro Cerar said Tuesday.
In part of its bid to save resources, Slovenia has built a border fence along its border with Croatia to direct migrants towards reception. If migrants were entering Greece and at that stage booking flights or ferries to other Schengen territories, it might be an issue.
Spokesman Leonard Doyle cited concerns about the weather and growing awareness of the dangers of crossing the Aegean “in a small rubber dinghy”.
The Swedish Migration Agency already plans to shelter thousands of refugees in heated tents due to a housing shortage, while some people may be accommodated in venues such as ski resorts and a theme park.
The fence will be about 4 km and will be placed at the busiest refugee border crossing with Slovenia.
At a news conference with other cabinet members and senior officials, Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner announced a series of measures that would be put in place near the Spielfeld border crossing in coordination with Slovenia.
She says a fence could be erected within 48 hours if needed. Divers were searching for more possible victims. “Police caught up with the group, beat them, took their valuables, food and water”, it said. Croatia sharply criticised Slovenia for unfurling razor wire along stretches of their border on Wednesday, as Europe continued to struggle to find a co-ordinated response to its biggest refugee crisis since the second World War.
The talks in Valletta, Malta, came as Croatia lodged a formal protest on Thursday insisting Slovenia’s fence has entered its territory.
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Police said it was too early to speculate on the cause.
