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HORGOS, Serbia -- The latest developments as European
governments rush to cope with the huge number of people moving across
Europe. All times local (CET):
10:10 p.m.
Romania's
foreign ministry has summoned Hungary's ambassador to Romania to
express criticism about a fence Hungary plans to build on the border
with Romania to deter migrants.
The ministry
said it had called in Botond Zakonyi to officially protest the planned
fence and a series of comments made by Hungarian officials in recent
days.
The foreign ministry said Romania and
Hungary had cooperated well on border and police matters in the past
"and consequently we should have a joint analysis of the situation."
The ministry said it had declined to receive a note of protest from the ambassador about the situation.
---
9:25 p.m.
Serbian
doctors say two people have been seriously injured and between 200 and
300 have sought medical help after Hungarian police used tear gas and
water cannons to stop migrants from entering the country.
Dr.
Margit Pajor from the medical center in Kanjiza, near the border with
Hungary, said that most of the migrants suffered cuts, bruises and burns
or eye problems caused by tear gas.
She says that "they were lining up so we wash their eyes or put bandages."
Pajor says two people have been sent to a nearby hospital, one of them with a serious head injury.
---
8:50 p.m.
Serbia's
prime minister has condemned the "brutal treatment" of migrants by
Hungarian police and warned the neighboring country not to fire tear gas
onto its territory again.
Aleksandar Vucic,
speaking from the U.S. while on an official visit, said he would raise
the issue in a meeting Wednesday with U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry.
Vucic also said there must be an EU
response to clashes between migrants and Hungarian police, who used tear
gas, pepper spray and water cannons against hundreds of people at the
Hungary-Serbia border.
---
8:35 p.m.
Hungary's
prime minister says the country will build a fence on some sections of
its border with Croatia, an alternate migration route into Western
Europe some migrants have begun to use.
Prime
Minister Viktor Orban said in an interview published in the online
edition of Germany's Die Welt newspaper that "we will also have to
extend the fence to the Croatian border."
Hungary's nearly completed fence on the border with Serbia has impeded the flow of migrants.
Hungary
already has announced plans to extend the fence on the Romanian border
in an effort to cut off routes for migrants seeking to reach Germany and
other richer countries further west in the EU.
More
than 201,000 migrants entered Hungary this year, nearly all by walking
across the southern border with Serbia, before Hungary began applying
stricter migration and asylum rules on Tuesday.
---
8:05 p.m.
Croatian
police say that nearly 900 people have entered the country as they seek
a new migration route into the European Union after Hungary sealed its
border with Serbia.
Police said that 892
people had been registered by 1700 GMT (1 p.m. EDT), more than 12 hours
after first groups started coming in.
---
7:50 p.m.
Serbia's
state TV says one of its crews reporting on the migration crisis on the
border with Hungary has been beaten by baton-wielding Hungarian police
and its equipment was broken.
Radio-Television
Serbia said on its website that a reporter, a cameraman and his
assistant were beaten although they identified themselves as
journalists. It says the crew was standing between Hungarian police and
the migrants.
RTS TV says Hungarian police
pushed the cameraman against the wall and then beat him on the head and
back with batons, before smashing his camera. The reporter's Jovana arm
has been hurt.
All three have been taken to a nearby hospital for a checkup.
---
7:35 p.m.
U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he has been "shocked" to see how
refugees and migrants have been treated, and he calls it unacceptable.
He said that he had spoken by phone with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Ban
also singled out Syria, saying that "people facing barrel bombs and
brutality in their country will continue to seek life in another."
---
7:25 p.m.
Serbia's
interior minister says additional police troops will be sent to the
border with Hungary following clashes involving migrants and Hungarian
police.
Nebojsa Stefanovic said that "the idea
is to prevent further attacks on the Hungarian police from our
territory and to separate in a humane and decent way migrants from the
fences and the Hungarian police."
Stefanovic
adds that "we will do our best to make sure there are no more incidents,
but we would like to see our Hungarian colleagues treat the migrants
less aggressively."
---
7:20 p.m.
Serbian
Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic says that Hungary has asked in a
diplomatic note that Serbia "stop what it (Hungary) described as armed
migrants from crossing the state border."
Dacic
says Serbia will send a note asking Hungary to "prevent any possibility
of the situation such as happened today when tear gas was fired on our
territory."
Migrants hurled objects, including
stones and bricks at Hungarian police from the Serbian side of the
border. Hungarian police responded with tear gas, pepper spray and water
cannons.
---
7:10 p.m.
The
Czech government's committee for the rights of foreigners has condemned
the practice of authorities charging refugees in detention centers for
food and accommodation.
Committee head Magda Faltova says the practice of charging migrants about $10 a day is "illegal."
The
committee also called on authorities to stop detaining those who can't
be returned to the countries from which they came. It also says there's
no reason to keep them in detention for 42 days as happens now and they
should be immediately released.
The migrants mostly use the Czech Republic as a transit country on the way to wealthy EU countries.
---
6:35 p.m.
Baltic officials have detained scores of migrants for staying illegally and attempting move on to Finland with forged documents.
Estonian
police spokesman Ivo Utsar said they caught 11 Afghanis at the Tallinn
harbor as they attempted to board a Finland-bound ferry with forged
documents.
Officials in Latvia have detained
17 Iraqi migrants headed for Finland for illegally staying in the
country. In Lithuania, a Latvian car with five Iraqi migrants was
stopped en route to Finland.
---
6:20 p.m.
A
spokesman for the Hungarian government says those who tried to push
past a border post present a very real danger to his country.
Zoltan
Kovacs told journalists "these people are not peaceful. They are not
simply wanting to go through Hungary. They carry a danger and that
nature is very clear."
He asked "do you
believe that armed refugees would be attacking police lines and trying
to come and enter a country? I don't believe so!"
---
6:05 p.m.
Serbia's foreign ministry says Hungary has closed traffic over the main border crossing between the two countries.
A
statement said the Horgos crossing will remain "temporarily, partially
closed for thirty days." It adds that Hungary said the situation at the
border crossing "is endangering public security in Hungary."
Hundreds
of people trying to reach the European Union have been trapped in the
border area after Hungary closed its border with Serbia on Tuesday to
stem the influx.
---
5:50 p.m.
Austria's
interior minister says the country will start selective controls on its
border with Slovenia within the next few hours because the border
situation with Hungary has "calmed significantly."
Minister
Johanna Mikl-Leitner told the Austria Press Agency that anyone wishing
to apply for asylum still could do so. At the same time, she said
Austria was looking to send "a clear signal" that the country cannot
handle an uncontrolled mass influx of migrants.
---
5:35 p.m.
Serbia is protesting Hungary's use of tear gas and water cannons against migrants at their shared border.
Serbian
minister Aleksandar Vulin expressed "the harshest possible protest" in a
live statement on Serbian state TV from the Horgos 2 border crossing
where the clashes took place earlier.
Vulin
came to the border crossing after the clash and invited refugees to
return to the nearby town of Kanjiza to get food, water, medical aid and
rest.
He said the migrants' frustration was
understandable after Hungary closed the border. Vulin says "Hungary must
show it is ready and capable to accept these people."
---
5:25 p.m.
The chaotic clashes at the Hungarian-Serbian border have eased but left people there stunned.
Several
people fainted, including a woman holding a baby. Children and women
cried while young men with scarves over their faces hurled stones as
they charged toward Hungarian police through thick tear gas smoke.
Police
fired tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons at the crowd as some
tried to push through a border post. Ambulances with sirens wailing came
from Serbia to treat the injured.
Serbian
border policemen watched the clashes from a distance, some shaking their
heads as tear gas canisters landed in their country.
---
5:15 p.m.
The
European Union is rethinking a plan to share 120,000 refugees after
Hungary refused to have tens of thousands of refugees there
redistributed among its EU partners.
The
European Commission has proposed to relocate refugees from Greece, Italy
and Hungary to other nations over the next two years. There was no
immediate explanation for Hungary's stance.
Foreign
Minister Jean Asselborn of Luxembourg, which holds the EU presidency,
told EU lawmakers there would be an "important change" in the plan
before it's debated by interior ministers on Tuesday.
---
5:05 p.m.
Hungary
says it's asking Serbian authorities to take action against those
attacking Hungarian riot police from the Serbian side of the border.
Clashes
have broken out, with migrants throwing rocks and bottles at Hungarian
riot police and the police replying with tear gas and water cannons.
Hungarian
Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto says Hungarian authorities have sent
the crackdown request to the Serbian government. Hungary closed its
border with Serbia on Tuesday, creating a bottleneck of people fleeing
violence in their homelands.
---
4:50 p.m.
Refugees
are shocked and angry after Hungarian police sprayed tear gas and water
cannons at those trying to push through a border post.
Several
people received medical treatment from the Serbian ambulance service at
the scene of clashes near Horgos. Most were suffering from the tear gas
but one young man had a bloody leg.
"We fled
wars and violence and did not expect such brutality and inhumane
treatment in Europe," said Amir Hassan of Iraq, soaking wet from the
water cannon and trying to wash tear gas from his eyes.
"Shame on you Hungarians!" he shouted, pointing toward Hungarian police.
---
4:30 p.m.
Serbian
police have sent ambulances to the border after Hungarian police
sprayed tear gas and water cannons at migrants trying to break through a
border post. It was not clear how many people were injured. Many
migrants are crying from the tear gas.
---
4:15 p.m.
British
Home Secretary Theresa May says Britain will welcome the first group of
Syrian refugees allowed in under a new resettlement program within
days.
She told Parliament the refugees will
come from camps surrounding Syria and the government is pressing hard to
organize more arrivals in the coming weeks.
Prime
Minister David Cameron said last week Britain would take in up to
20,000 refugees in the next five years - a substantial expansion of its
resettlement program.
--
4:05 p.m.
The Czech Republic's human rights minister says his country should help a much bigger number of refugees.
The
Czech government has rejected a plan by the European Union for
introducing mandatory quotas for accepting migrants. It has so far said
the country was ready to accept 2,000 refugees.
But
minister Jiri Dienstbier says the Czech Republic should show solidarity
and share the refugee burden on a voluntary basis, possibly accepting
7,000-15,000 people.
---
4 p.m.
Hungarian
border police have again sprayed tear gas at migrants along the border
with Serbia, triggering a panicky stampede by the crowd, which included
many women and children, away from the border gate.
Many people were in tears trying to wash away the gas from their eyes.
---
3:40 p.m.
The
German government says the leaders of Germany and Turkey have discussed
the migration crisis and called for stepped-up efforts to achieve a
"political solution" to end Syria's civil war.
Chancellor
Angela Merkel and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by
phone. The government said Merkel praised the "enormous Turkish efforts"
to take care of nearly 2 million Syrian refugees in Turkey. It added
that the two leaders agreed to increase cooperation on resolving the
refugee crisis, with an emphasis on combatting traffickers.
Turkey
is a main point of departure for Syrians and others seeking a better
life in Europe, with many setting off for Greece's eastern islands
aboard flimsy boats.
---
3:20 p.m.
Hungarian police have used tear gas after hundreds of migrants broke through a razor-wire fence on the border with Serbia.
The
police stopped the crowd, who threw plastic water bottles at them.
There were no reports of injuries. Several people were seen with tears
in their eyes from the gas.
---
3: 15 p.m.
Germany
has seen a decline in the number of new migrants arriving since it
introduced border checks on the Austrian frontier, though the influx is
still significant.
Germany imposed the checks
Sunday, saying it wanted to ensure that refugee arrivals were more
orderly and that newcomers were registered.
Interior
Ministry spokesman Tobias Plate said the numbers "have decreased very
significantly" but are still in the thousands every day.
--
3 p.m.
A
Hungarian court has found an Iraqi man guilty of "illegally crossing
the border," the first conviction based on a new law meant to stop the
huge flow of migrants into Hungary.
Hungarian
media reported the judge ordered the man expelled from Hungary and
banned him from returning for one year. It was expected that he would be
returned to Serbia, the country that many migrants have used on their
way into Hungary.
The accused said he was
unaware that illegal border crossing was a crime, but the judge rejected
his argument, saying "ignorance of the law doesn't excuse anybody."
--
2:50 p.m.
Blocked
by Hungary, migrants in Serbia have started entering neighboring
Croatia. But that brings them into a whole new danger zone - former mine
fields along the country's front line in its 1991-95 war.
Croatia's
Mine Action Center says there are still 500 square kilometers (193
square miles) of suspicious areas throughout the country, but all have
been clearly marked.
---
2 p.m.
Syrian
President Bashar Assad is blaming Europe for the migration crisis,
saying it's a direct result of the West's support for extremists in
Syria over the past four years.
In an
interview with Russian media, Assad accused Europe of supporting
"terrorism" and providing "protection for terrorists, calling them
moderates."
"If you are worried about them (refugees), stop supporting terrorists," he said, addressing Europe.
---
1:45 p.m.
In Horgos, Serbia, confusion reigned among migrants on whether to remain at the border with Hungary or leave for Croatia.
Hundreds
were seen walking toward the crossing with Hungary around noon, while
smaller groups walked in the opposite direction after hearing rumors
that buses would take them toward the Croatian border. AP reporters saw
no buses.
At the border, people hid from the
blazing sun by sleeping under parked cars or staying inside small tents.
Children and babies cried while men walked for miles to buy water and
food.
Ahmed Sami, a Syrian father from Aleppo, said "I don't know what to do, stay here or try some other way to cross the border?"
---
1:30 p.m.
Hungary's
foreign minister says the razor-wire fence on its border with Serbia is
needed to secure the European Union's external border and will remain
as long as large numbers of migrants keep trying to enter Hungary.
Peter
Szijjarto told The Associated Press that "only a physical obstacle"
could help Hungary protect its border as long as migrants were able to
pour into fellow EU member Greece and make their way north.
He urged the EU to send police forces to help Greece control the influx, to which Hungary would make a "massive contribution."
---
1:15 p.m.
There was joy and relief for some Syrian refugees who finally crossed into Germany.
Mohammed
Al Zain, a 22-year-old economics student from Aleppo, walked into the
German town of Freilassing from the Austrian city of Salzburg after
being stuck waiting for 12 hours for his train to get permission to
cross the border.
Squeezing his 7-year-old
brother into a bear hug, he says border guards "told us `Welcome to
Germany' and we are very happy right now."
Zain says "me and my brother, I didn't see him for one year. Finally (we are) meeting here."
---
12:40 p.m.
German
police say traffickers appear to be changing tack: instead of taking
migrants across the border into Germany, they are dumping them in
Austria and telling them to walk over the bridges themselves.
Germany
put controls on its border Sunday in an effort to catch smugglers and
bring some order to the influx of tens of thousands.
Federal
police spokesman Thimad Schweikl told The Associated Press that more
than 1,000 migrants had crossed into Germany on foot in the southern
region of Passau in the past 24 hours.
He says they were brought to the bridges in groups of 20 to 40 by traffickers seeking to avoid arrest.
---
12:20 p.m.
Greek police say about 5,000 people have crossed the country's northern border with Macedonia in the last 24 hours.
Thousands
have been crossing every day, making their way north across the Balkans
overland to more prosperous European Union countries such as Germany
and Sweden.
---
12 p.m.
Austrian
Federal Railways has stopped all train traffic from Salzburg, near the
German border, into Germany itself, citing a request from German
authorities.
Thousands of migrants and
refugees have taken trains from Salzburg to Munich for more than a week.
Most of the people streaming into Austria from Hungary have continued
on to Germany.
Railway officials say trains
traveling from Salzburg through a small section of southern Germany to
Austria's western province of Tyrol will continue operating.
---
11:15 p.m.
Croatia's
prime minister has criticized Hungary's decision to seal its border
with Serbia for migrants and says Croatia will not do the same.
Prime
Minister Zoran Milanovic told Parliament "we are ready to accept and
direct those people." Milanovic says 150 people have already crossed
into Croatia to avoid Hungary's closed border.
Referring to Hungary's fence, Milanovic says "barbed wire in Europe in the 21st century is not an answer, it's a threat."
---
10:45 a.m.
Greece's
coast guard has picked up hundreds of people from the sea near eastern
Aegean islands as they attempted to reach Greece clandestinely from the
nearby Turkish coast.
The coast guard said it
rescued 773 people in 19 separate search-and-rescue operations in the
last 24 hours off the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Rhodes.
The figures do not include the hundreds more who manage to reach the
islands themselves.
More than 250,000 people
have reached Greece clandestinely so far this year, the vast majority of
them Syrians or Afghans fleeing conflict at home.
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