Schengen Area

It is completely unacceptable that authorities in the countries along the so-called Balkan route are helping migrants reach the Schengen border.

This is what Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said on Friday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and western Balkan leaders will gather in Vienna Aug. 27 in a bid to find a coherent approach to tackling the biggest migration crisis to hit Europe since World War II.

Hungarian police used tear gas to prevent some 200 migrants to leave a reception center near the border with Serbia on Wednesday, AFP reported.

The police stepped in after migrants tried to leave the refugee registration center in Roszke without being fingerprinted. A police spokesman at the scene told AFP the sitiation has calmed down following the incident.

The European Commission said on Tuesday it could consider increasing financial assistance to Hungary to help the country tackle a growing migrant influx.

Bulgaria's bid to join the EU's Schengen borderless area and the increasing migratory pressure on Europe will be in the focus of a meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Kuneva and Finland's Foreign Minister Timo Soini, the government in Sofia said on Tuesday.

Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev said on Monday the Army is sending 25 troops and the relevant equipment to help police guard the border with Serbia in view of increased migrant influx into Bulgaria's western neighbour.

Macedonian riot police used tear gas and stun grenades on Friday as thousands of migrants tried to enter the country from Greece, Sky News reported.

Macedonia has declared crisis situation in two border regions due to "an unprecedented flow of refugees from the Middle East" entering from Greece, MIA reported on Thursday.

The fence being built by Hungary along its southern border with Serbia would redirect the wave of migrants to Croatia and Bulgaria, the Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has said.

Hungary said on Tuesday will send several thousand police officers to its southern border with Serbia to deter migrant influx, international news outlets reported on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff, Janos Lazar, said the deployment of police was needed because of "increasingly aggressive migrants arriving with more resolute demands," according to AP.