BREAKING: Hungary seizes train from Croatia

Hungary seizes train carrying 1,000 asylum seekers escorted by 40 Croatian police

RT,

18 September, 2015

Hungary has intercepted a train carrying some 1,000 asylum seekers from Croatia, accompanied by around 40 police officers. The officers were sent back, while the people onboard the train were reportedly transferred to a reception camp.

READ MORE: End of Schengen? EU countries toughen border control

The train carrying up to 1,000 refugees was accompanied by some 40 Croatian police officers, who were reportedly detained and then sent back. Croatian police however refuted initial reports that officers accompanying the train were detained or disarmed, explaining that 36 officers “returned” to Croatia in the evening.

“There was no disarming or arrests. It is not true,” Croatian police spokeswoman Jelena Bikic told Reuters, claiming that there was “an agreement about the escort between the police officers from the two sides in advance.”

A video by @indexhu of #CRO train that violated #HUN border with policemen on ithttp://t.co/i282qNRaxQ#refugees

— Balazs Csekö (@balazscseko) September 18, 2015

Hungarian authorities said that the incident happened due to Croatia’s failure to coordinate train’s border crossing. According to the head of the Hungarian disaster unit, Gyorgy Bakondi, the Croatian train arrived at Magyarboly without any prior notice, bringing the number of unannounced arrivals to over 4,000 on Friday alone.

Croatia’s FM Vesna Pusic claimed that the two countries had agreed “to provide a corridor” for refugees, Sky News reported. However Hungarian spokesman Zoltan Kovacs rejected the claim as a “lie.”

After Hungary blocked off their border with Serbia this week with the aid of a metal fence and riot police, migrants flooded neighboring Croatia in search for an alternative route. More than 17,000 have arrived in the country since Wednesday morning.

“We cannot register and accommodate these people any longer,” Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic told a news conference. “They will get food, water and medical help, and then they can move on. The European Union must know that Croatia will not become a migrant ‘hotspot’. We have hearts, but we also have heads.”

Meanwhile European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker offered Croatia logistical and technical assistance to cope with the migrant flow during a conversation with Milanovic.

“Both stressed the need to enhance the protection of the EU's external border, to step up EU assistance in our immediate neighborhood and to make swift progress on operational solidarity between the EU Member States to cope with the refugee crisis,” Juncker's office said.

The BBC version if you want it -  they call them 'migrants'!!

Migrant crisis: Neighbours squabble after Croatia U-turn

Waves of migrants seeking to enter the EU from the south-east have been shunted from one border to another as governments disagree over the crisis.

Croatia reversed its open-door policy after 17,000 arrivals since Wednesday. It is now sending thousands of migrants north, angering Slovenia and Hungary.

Hungary, which is putting a fence on its border with Croatia, is reportedly sending new arrivals on to Austria.