The latest from the migrant crisis in Croatia.
From midnight to 9 pm on Tuesday, 6,373 refugees entered Croatia. At the temporary reception centre in Opatovac currently there are 2,127 migrants. Since the beginning of the migration crisis a little over a month ago, 207 941 migrants and refugees have entered Croatia, Croatian Ministry of the Interior reported on its website, reports Index.hr and Vecernji List on October 21, 2015.
On Wednesday, Slovenian parliament adopted amendments to the Law on Defence, which give the military additional powers to protect the state border. Amendments were adopted at the proposal of the government, due to the new wave of migrants coming to Slovenia from Croatia. The right-wing opposition parties accused the government that it was not protecting Slovenian state borders and the borders of the Schengen Area.
The Slovenian army has about 7,000 members, and now it has powers to issue warnings and instructions and temporarily restrict movement of refugees. Border between Slovenia and Croatia is 670 kilometres long.
Slovenian prime minister Miro Cerar said that Slovenia had received a promise from the EU that it would get assistance in equipment for the police and law enforcement personnel, as well as financial support. Slovenian media report that on Tuesday between eight and nine thousand refugees came from Croatia to Slovenia.
During the night, a train from Tovarnik with 1,500 refugees arrived at the Sutla railway station in Ključ Brdovečki near the Slovenian border. The migrants entered Slovenia on foot.
Yesterday evening, around 4,500 refugees arrived to the border between Slovenia and Austria. Austrian authorities had not been informed about their arrival. The refugees demolished the fence on the border and entered the country.
Serbian media report that at Berkasovo on the border with Croatia there are currently about 3,500 refugees. They have spent the night there and are now waiting to enter Croatia, to be transported first to the reception centre in Opatovac and later to Western European countries. Croatian police is allowing groups of between 50 and 100 people to enter Croatia.
Croatian Interior Ministry reported that police leaders of four neighbouring countries, Croatia, Austria, Slovenia and Hungary, will meet today at the headquarters of the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior in Vienna to discuss the migration crisis. Croatia will be represented by Vlado Dominić, director general of Croatian police.
Temporary reception centre in Opatovac will be visited today by Croatian foreign minister Vesna Pusić and foreign ambassadors in Croatia, who will also visit the construction site of the new temporary reception centre in Slavonski Brod.
Croatian prime minister Zoran Milanović said yesterday that some people in Croatia are using the refugee crisis for election purposes. He added that Austria had not sealed off its border nor would it ever do that, and that he talked yesterday with Austrian chancellor Werner Faymann. He also said that construction of the border fence is not the solution. “When I see that Slovenians start building the border fence, we will build it twice as fast. Any fool can build a wall. But that is not the solution.”
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