The latest developments as European governments rush to cope with the huge number of migrants moving across Europe.
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Human rights groups say the distinction between economic migrants and refugees fleeing for their lives is poorly understood in countries in central and eastern Europe.
LASZLO BALOGH/REUTERS A migrant looks out from a bus as police stand guard at a collection point in Roszke, Hungary on Friday. Guards were depicted throwing food into the air for desperate people to grab.
In Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it was sending pre-fabricated housing units to provide temporary overnight shelter for 300 families in Hungary but also expressed concern over Budapest’s tough approach, including the possible deployment of troops to tackle the crisis.
Orban, who has ordered his country’s border with Serbia to be turned into a razor-tipped fortress, shrugged off the criticism, saying Friday the solution to the migration crisis lies in Greece. Krzysztof Szpakowski told a news conference that he has no doubt as to his find, which he says was based on evidence that he has gathered for decades, including witness statements, old documents and an examination of the area by ground-penetrating radar and by dowsers. “We can neither arrest them nor tie them up”. Still, he was determined to push on to Germany with his wife, brother and a friend, despite what he had heard was happening in Hungary.
“This is what we wanted and there is no way back now”, whispered Adnan, who gave only his first name fearing deportation if he made it to the West. “We are not afraid”.
A Hungarian camerawoman who was caught on video kicking and tripping migrants near the Serbian border offered a qualified apology Friday. “It is inappropriate to talk about mandatory quotas, calculated on an extremely bureaucratic basis, nearly like an accountancy exercise I might say, without consulting member states”, said Romania President Klaus Iohannis.
Finland, on the other hand, volunteered to take in 2,400. An investigation is continuing, they said. “The white race is in danger in Europe”, Kristiina Ojuland, a former Estonian foreign minister who now leads a nationalist party, told The Associated Press. Police briefly closed the A4 motorway to Vienna because of the potential dangers posed by people walking on the road. Trains have been taking migrants and refugees from the Nickelsdorf border point to Vienna for days, and Koller said more trains were planned.
Meanwhile, some 7,600 migrants, many of them refugees from the Syrian war, entered Macedonia from Greece between 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) on Wednesday and 6 p.m. on Thursday, an official with the UNHCR said on the border.
A makeshift camp of thousands from the Middle East, Asia and Africa has been dismantled at Budapest’s Keleti train station, and its inhabitants have left for Germany. But with 800,000 asylum seekers expected there this year, Germany can not continue providing this level of support indefinitely, especially in the face of violent protests.
“I commend the leadership and global solidarity the European leaders are showing, but at the same time, in view of the gravity and the scale of this crisis, I would naturally expect that European leaders should do more“, he said.
Austrian Federal Railways said it no longer has the capacity to deal with the thousands of people at the Nickelsdorf crossing wanting to board trains to the Austrian capital.
European Union interior ministers were meeting on Monday to discuss Junker’s proposals.
All four Central European countries have said repeatedly the EU needs to focus on protecting its external border to deter more migrants from entering the bloc.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel has yet to put a figure on how many refugees could actually be granted asylum in Germany.
