The number of people on the move across Europe was still in the tens of thousands.
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Two boats with approximately 140 people onboard have landed on the shores of a British air base on the island of Cyprus. All 114 people are now at RAF Akrotiri, where they have been given medical care, food and clothing.
A government statement on Tuesday said: “From Slovenia’s perspective, European solidarity is at stake”. The same opposition is faced by other countries facing the refugee crisis, such as Germany and Sweden.
Faced with delays, hundreds of people are being forced to camp outdoors along the route that they hope ends in Austria, Germany, and other European Union nations.
The wave of migrants and refugees has put a strain on the former Yugoslav republics in the region.
A Slovenian policeman on horseback rides past a group of migrants after they crossed from Croatia, in Dobova, near a border crossing between Croatia and Slovenia Wednesday, October 21, 2015.
A stop sign is seen as migrants walked near Dobova yesterday.
Slovenia and Croatia also exchanged insults as Ljubjana complained that Zagreb is ignoring requests for advanced warnings on new arrivals of refugees.
At least 12,100 migrants were now in Serbia, the prime minister said on Tuesday.
Migrants gather around a fire to warm themselves, waiting to cross…
“I am sorry for Europe”, said Ari Omar, an Iraqi, who was resting in a Slovenian pasture a few hundred meters (yards) from the border with Croatia.
Many others live in extreme cold conditions at a refugee camp in Opatovac in the east of Croatia. “They send immigrants toward Slovenia without control, deliberately dispersed”. Slovenian riot police deployed by the camp in full gear to manage the situation. Ambulances have also been spotted at the scene.
More than 600,000 migrants and refugees, mainly fleeing violence in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, have braved the risky journey to Europe so far this year.
Meanwhile on the ground, thousands were left stranded in wet, freezing weather on Croatia’s frontier with Serbia, after travelling up through Greece and Macedonia.
With the temperatures below or around zero (32 Fahrenheit), migrants treaded through the river or swam over, carrying their children and personal belongings.
Migrants are escorted by Slovenian soldiers after crossing from…
The government says Slovenia is the smallest country on the Balkan migration route, with limited capacity to control its borders and accommodate migrants.
They echoed what researchers monitoring Westerners fighting for the Islamic State have been saying: “If they want to come to Europe, there are easier ways”, said Shiraz Maher of the war studies department at King’s College London.
The army had already begun protecting the frontier on Monday, but so far only when police were present. More than 18,469 migrants arrived in Slovenia since Friday, and at least 5,092 crossing the border on Tuesday, authorities say.
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Information for this article was contributed by Darko Bandic, Philipp-Moritz Jenne, Jovana Gec, Pablo Gorondi and Shawn Pogatchnik of The Associated Press and by Katrin Bennhold of The New York Times.
