HORGOS, Serbia
(AP) — The latest developments as European governments rush to cope with
the huge number of people moving across Europe .
All times local
(CET):
11:10 p.m.
Hundreds of
migrants have demonstrated near Turkey 's
western border with Greece ,
demanding that authorities allow them to cross the frontier. Many refuse the
food being handed out by a Turkish relief organization and pledge to start a
hunger strike until their demands are met.
The migrants, most
of them refugees from Syria ,
have been gathering at the border since the beginning of the week, hoping they
will be allowed to cross into Greece
overland instead of risking their lives at sea.
Authorities have
given the estimated 1,700 people there three days to leave the area, according
to an official in the provincial governor's office who provided the information
on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.
The AP saw several
people leaving in vans back to Istanbul ,
but many more appeared ready to stay at the border for as long as it took.
"We are not
going back," Ahmed El Latif told the AP. "Either we all die here or
we will go to Greece ."
10:10 p.m.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 .
1:30 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.
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.
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.
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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