Croatia Border Closure Alarms Balkan Neighbours

After more than 13,300 refugees from Syria and Iraq entered Croatia from Serbia on Wednesday and Thursday, Croatia temporarily closed the border with Serbia on Thursday night. The biggest border passing, Batrovci, is still open for traffic.

Croatia's Minister of Interior, Ranko Ostojic, on Thursday urged refugees to stay in their reception centres in Serbia, Macedonia and Greece, since the capacities for receiving refugees in Croatia were full.

There are seven refugee centres in Croatia, the latest one being at the Zagreb Trade Fair.

The refugee centre in Beli Manastir in north-eastern Croatia is already overloaded, with 11,000 refugees and a lack of regular access to drinking water. In desperation, 200 refugees attempted to enter Hungary during the night, but were returned by the Hungarian police.

Some refugees are becoming desperate in their desire to get to Slovenia and Western Europe, even willing to pay a fortune for transport.

However, Slovenia is not allowing the majority of refugees to enter the country and allowed only 150 to enter on Thursday night.

Additionally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned on Friday that Hungary will build a new fence on the border with Croatia, similar to one finished this week on the border with Serbia.

Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic on Friday said that while Croatia honoured humanitarian standards, it also "sticks to the rules" in registering all refugees.

Nevertheless, she rejected claims that the refugees were a security risk, adding: "Terrorists do not operate in punctured boats across the Mediterranean, but in planes in business class".

Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic told a press conference that Croatia had shown "that it has heart, but also...