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BUDAPEST, Hungary -- The latest developments as European
governments struggle to cope with the huge number of people moving
across Europe. All times local:
11:05 a.m.
Former
Czech President Vaclav Klaus, a renowned Euro-skeptic, says a
nationwide referendum or early election should be called over a European
Union decision to redistribute 120,000 asylum-seekers in member states.
The decision was approved by EU ministers this week despite opposition from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.
Slovakia is planning to challenge that but the Czech government said it would respect it.
Klaus
says the government has no mandate for that because it is "an
extraordinary situation that threatens the sovereignty of our country."
He
told Czech public television late Thursday that he is starting
consultations with major parties as well other political groups over the
issue.
Earlier this month, Klaus launched a
petition which said mass immigration is a fundamental threat to Europe
and called on the government to reject the migrant quotas.
---
10:55 a.m.
Asylum-seekers
arriving in Finland have been met by protesters firing fireworks and
sounding loud horns, and at least one person dressed in a Ku Klux
Klan-like white robe and pointed hat.
Finnish
broadcasters showed how the bus with the new arrivals was escorted by
police as it approached a refugee center north of Helsinki early Friday.
State
broadcaster YLE said the roughly 40 asylum-seekers were met by up to 40
protesters. It was unclear if any arrests were made.
Some
500 people formed a symbolic human wall Saturday in the northern
Finland border town of Tornio to protest against the arrival of migrants
from Sweden. No incidents were reported.
Up to 30,000 asylum-seekers are expected in the Nordic country this year, compared to 3,651 last year.
---
10:40 a.m.
Croatian
police say some 55,000 migrants have crossed into the country from
Serbia since last Wednesday when the first groups started arriving.
Police
say the numbers include people who came in by early hours on Friday,
but that many more were expected to arrive overnight. Police say 8,500
people crossed into Croatia in one day on Thursday.
The
UN estimates that 80 percent of the people entering Europe through the
Balkans are fleeing conflict in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. The other
20 percent are from places including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burundi and
Sub-Saharan African.
They turned to Croatia
after Hungary on Sept. 15 used tear gas and water cannons to drive them
away from its border with Serbia. Croatia has been shipping the migrants
to its borders with Hungary and Slovenia.
The
migration crisis has fueled tensions in the Balkans, with rival
countries Serbia and Croatia slamming each other with border closures
and traffic blockades.
---
10:10 a.m.
Hungary's
government spokesman says the fence being built on the border with
Croatia to stop migrants from entering is nearly finished.
Government
spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said Friday on state radio that Hungary doesn't
want to close the border, but wants "to protect the border of the
European Union." He said the possibility of legal entry would be left
open.
Hungary has also installed spools of
razor wire near a border crossing with Slovenia, which like Hungary is
part of the EU's Schengen zone of passport-free travel.
Kovacs
said they are meant to "block direct detours" by migrants who may
attempt to circumvent the fences on the Serbian and Croatian borders to
reach Germany and other countries in Western Europe.
Prime
Minister Viktor Orban will be in Vienna on Friday meeting with Austrian
Chancellor Werner Faymann and other officials to discuss the migration
crisis.
Police said 8,104 migrants entered Hungary on Thursday, nearly all crossing from Croatia.
The Latest: Czech ex-leader wants vote on migrant quotas
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BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) -- The latest developments as European
governments struggle to cope with the huge number of people moving
across Europe. All times local:
11:05 a.m.
Former
Czech President Vaclav Klaus, a renowned Euro-skeptic, says a
nationwide referendum or early election should be called over a European
Union decision to redistribute 120,000 asylum-seekers in member states.
The decision was approved by EU ministers this week despite opposition from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.
Slovakia is planning to challenge that but the Czech government said it would respect it.
Klaus
says the government has no mandate for that because it is "an
extraordinary situation that threatens the sovereignty of our country."
He
told Czech public television late Thursday that he is starting
consultations with major parties as well other political groups over the
issue.
Earlier this month, Klaus launched a
petition which said mass immigration is a fundamental threat to Europe
and called on the government to reject the migrant quotas.
---
10:55 a.m.
Asylum-seekers
arriving in Finland have been met by protesters firing fireworks and
sounding loud horns, and at least one person dressed in a Ku Klux
Klan-like white robe and pointed hat.
Finnish
broadcasters showed how the bus with the new arrivals was escorted by
police as it approached a refugee center north of Helsinki early Friday.
State
broadcaster YLE said the roughly 40 asylum-seekers were met by up to 40
protesters. It was unclear if any arrests were made.
Some
500 people formed a symbolic human wall Saturday in the northern
Finland border town of Tornio to protest against the arrival of migrants
from Sweden. No incidents were reported.
Up to 30,000 asylum-seekers are expected in the Nordic country this year, compared to 3,651 last year.
---
10:40 a.m.
Croatian
police say some 55,000 migrants have crossed into the country from
Serbia since last Wednesday when the first groups started arriving.
Police
say the numbers include people who came in by early hours on Friday,
but that many more were expected to arrive overnight. Police say 8,500
people crossed into Croatia in one day on Thursday.
The
UN estimates that 80 percent of the people entering Europe through the
Balkans are fleeing conflict in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. The other
20 percent are from places including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burundi and
Sub-Saharan African.
They turned to Croatia
after Hungary on Sept. 15 used tear gas and water cannons to drive them
away from its border with Serbia. Croatia has been shipping the migrants
to its borders with Hungary and Slovenia.
The
migration crisis has fueled tensions in the Balkans, with rival
countries Serbia and Croatia slamming each other with border closures
and traffic blockades.
---
10:10 a.m.
Hungary's
government spokesman says the fence being built on the border with
Croatia to stop migrants from entering is nearly finished.
Government
spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said Friday on state radio that Hungary doesn't
want to close the border, but wants "to protect the border of the
European Union." He said the possibility of legal entry would be left
open.
Hungary has also installed spools of
razor wire near a border crossing with Slovenia, which like Hungary is
part of the EU's Schengen zone of passport-free travel.
Kovacs
said they are meant to "block direct detours" by migrants who may
attempt to circumvent the fences on the Serbian and Croatian borders to
reach Germany and other countries in Western Europe.
Prime
Minister Viktor Orban will be in Vienna on Friday meeting with Austrian
Chancellor Werner Faymann and other officials to discuss the migration
crisis.
Police said 8,104 migrants entered Hungary on Thursday, nearly all crossing from Croatia.
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