Hungary has given its army broad powers to stop migrants entering the country, intensifying a security crackdown on asylum seekers ahead of today's meeting of European Union interior ministers and tomorrow's leaders' summit.
"Our borders are in danger, our way of life built on respect for the law, Hungary and the whole of Europe is in danger," Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban told parliament in Budapest before yesterday's vote.
“Europe hasn’t just left its doors open but has sent open invitation . . . Europe is rich but weak – the worst possible combination,” he added.
“They are overrunning us. They’re not just banging on the door, they’re breaking the door down on top of us.”
The new law allows soldiers to use non-lethal force – including tear gas and rubber bullets – to stop illegal migrants.
Mr Orban pushed through the latest phase of his bid to close Hungary to migrants as workers extended a fence along the border with Serbia to the frontier with Croatia, which has helped some 27,000 reach Hungary in recent days.
Transit camp
Croatia is providing buses to collect migrants from its border with Serbia and take them to a new transit camp where they can eat and rest before being taken to a nearby train station for onward travel to Hungary.
The process has sparked sharp verbal exchanges between Hungary and Croatia, amid rising tension between governments across the region, while also easing pressure in Balkan states by allowing migrants to move relatively easily across borders towards Austria and Germany.
During a visit to the new Opatovac camp today, Croatia's interior minister, Ranko Ostojic, briefly boarded each of several buses waiting outside the gates and assured refugees that they would only be kept there "for a short time".
“Then you will be on your way to the European Union,” he said, despite the fact that they were already in it – Croatia has been a member of the bloc since 2013.
Human face
“More than 20,000 people have gone through Croatia in the last few days on their way to the EU . . . Please pass on this message to people who are coming here.”After disembarking, Mr Ostojic said: “This is the human face of our country . . . Some Croatians might want to put guns on the border – they are like Orban – but the majority are ready to help these people and send them on their way to the European Union.”
Foreign ministers from Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic met in Prague last night for talks with their counterpart from Luxembourg, which now holds the rotating EU presidency.
Central European states have strongly opposed a German-led plan for all EU states to take a quota of refugees.
They have suggested they may be open to compromise if tough pledges are made to boost border security in southern Europe, however, as the crisis threatens to wreck the EU’s Schengen system of free movement between states.
“All of us who met here today are absolutely dedicated to reaching a common stance,” said Czech foreign minister Lubomir Zaoralek.
