Slovenia says it has allowed into
the country most of the 5,000 people who were stranded in wet and muddy
conditions on its border with Croatia on Monday.
It had previously vowed to take in only 2,500 migrants per day.
Croatia has also opened its border with Serbia, where thousands more migrants are trying to reach northern Europe.
Aid agencies have been warning of dire conditions as bottlenecks develop at border crossings in the Balkans.
Hundreds
of thousands of migrants, many from Syria, Africa and Afghanistan, have
been making their way from Turkey to the Balkans in recent months, in a
bid to reach Germany, Sweden and other EU states.
On Monday evening, Germany saw large rival rallies in Dresden to mark the first anniversary of the anti-immigrant group Pegida.
They
come amid fears the group is becoming more radical in response to
Germany's decision to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees this
year.
No-man's land: Border closures leave thousands stranded Long winter sets in: EU pins hope on deteriorating weather Merkel under pressure: Chancellor's migrant policy faces criticism at home Crisis in graphics: Migration numbers explained
Croatia
and Slovenia appeared to ease restrictions on the flow of migrants late
on Monday, after thousands of people were stranded for hours in wet,
cold and windy conditions.
Both countries imposed stricter
controls at the weekend after Hungary, citing security concerns, closed
its southern border and forced migrants to switch to a slower route via
Slovenia.
Slovenia's interior ministry said on Monday that some
5,000 migrants were allowed to enter from Croatia, and 900 of them had
already travelled onwards to Austria by the evening.
Slovenia
earlier criticised Croatia for allowing large groups of migrants over
the border, and breaking an agreement to limit such transfers to 2,500
people a day.
Meanwhile, Croatia decided to open its border late
on Monday, after aid workers warned of "dire" conditions for another
3,000 refugees stuck in cold and wet weather without shelter on the
Serbia-Croatia frontier.
Media captionGuy Delauney: "These are people just caught in politics between the countries"Croatian buses transported the thousands of migrants to a nearby reception centre.
Croatia's
Prime Minister Zoran MIlanovic said his government had hoped to stem
the flow of people but poor conditions on the Serbian side of the border
had forced them to let the migrants through.
"It's apparent that this is no solution, so we will let them through. We will send them toward Slovenia," he said.
Before
Monday's mass crossing, the UNHCR said 10,000 migrants were stranded in
Serbia - with more than 6,000 entering from Macedonia on Monday alone.
Some Serbian officials have also indicated they may in turn hold back arrivals from the south.
More
than 600,000 people, most of them Syrians, have reached Europe so far
this year compared with just over 200,000 for the whole of 2014
Germany has said it expects 800,000 asylum seekers this year, but it is believed the number could be as high as 1.5 million.
Scuffles
broke out during protests in Dresden on Monday, as 20,000 Pegida
supporters confronted a similar number of counter demonstrators amid an
angry backlash over Germany's open-door policy towards migrants.
A note on terminology: The BBC uses
the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to
complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes
people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be
granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and
better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.
Thousands of migrants are crossing into Slovenia from Croatia after Hungary closed its border to them.
Around
2,700 arrived in Slovenia on Saturday and more were expected overnight.
Most aim to travel on to Austria, Germany and other countries.
Slovenia's army has been placed on standby to help police deal with the influx, Prime Minister Miro Cerar said.
He said Slovenia would accept the migrants as long as Austria and Germany kept their borders open.
Hungary
said it closed its border with Croatia at midnight on Friday because
European Union leaders had failed to agree a plan to stem the flow of
asylum seekers.
Last month it also shut its frontier with Serbia, which was another transit route to Western Europe.
On Saturday, hundreds of refugees were bussed across Croatia, from its border with Serbia to its border with Slovenia.
Many had spent weeks walking through Greece, Macedonia and Serbia to reach the Croatian border.
Slovenian authorities registered them and then arranged transport to the Austrian frontier.
Slovenia's
official STA news agency later some of the migrants had already reached
the Austrian border and were being registered at the Spielfeld
crossing.
A spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said
most of the migrants crossing Slovenia were from Syria, Iraq and
Afghanistan.
"They are fleeing from war... they are literally
running for their lives," Caroline van Buren told AFP news agency at the
Petisovci checkpoint.
"Unlike other countries, Slovenia had time to prepare. It's not perfect, but things are moving."
A train carrying about 1,200 migrants arrived at the Sredisce ob Dravi crossing, AFP reported.
Meanwhile,
two buses carrying mostly families with small children and babies
arrived at the Gruskovje crossing where they were given medical help,
food and warm clothes.
Media captionThe BBC's Guy Delaunay reports from the Croatian border: ''Slovenia is willing to act as a corridor for people''Can deeds match words?: The challenges ahead for the EU and Turkey The pull of Europe: Five migrant stories Merkel under pressure: Chancellor's migrant policy faces criticism at home Focus on Turkey: Why the EU views Syria's northern neighbour as key Crisis in graphics: Migration numbers explained
"We
are going to focus even more on safety and security and order so our
country can function normally,'' Prime Minister Cerar said.
Croatia is a member of the EU but, unlike Hungary and Slovenia, it is not part of the Schengen zone of passport-free travel.
However,
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said border controls with
Slovenia would also be temporarily reinstated to safeguard Hungary from a
"mass wave of unidentified, uncontrolled migrants".
German
Chancellor Angela Merkel is to travel to Turkey on Sunday for talks on
the migrant crisis with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Tens of
thousands of migrants are arriving in the EU from Turkey, risking a
sometimes perilous sea crossing to the Greek islands.
On Saturday,
12 refugees - four of them children - drowned while trying to reach the
Greek island of Lesbos, the Turkish coastguard said. They were thought
to be from Syria or Afghanistan.
