Migrant tensions rise in Balkans amid blocked routes
BERLIN — Border tensions escalated Monday in several Balkan nations amid new controls on migrants trying to reach Northern Europe.
Thousands of migrants, including many women and children, spent a night in the cold and rain near Slovenia's border with Croatia as the countries continued to argue over how to handle the large influx of people.
Croatia wants Slovenia to take in around 5,000 people each day traveling through its territory but Slovenia is only willing to accept half of that number.
Slovenia says it can only take in the lower figure because that is how many Austria — its neighbor to the north — is allowing in. Austria denies the restrictions.
Meanwhile, in Croatia, hundreds of migrants on Monday spread out across fields to avoid Croatian police blocking their way into the country from Serbia.
Earlier, Croatian police set up metal barriers on the normal route used by migrants in an attempt to restrict the flow of people. About 4,000 people remain a camp on the nations' border, Croatia said.
The migrants crossing fields in Croatia are passing through orchards and corn fields away from a border passage that has served as a crossing point for weeks. Paste BN visited this crossing point in late September and passed through it easily.
Separately in Greece, the country's coast guard said it rescued over 2,500 people in dozens of incidents in the eastern Aegean over the weekend as Europe’s refugee crisis continues unabated. Greek waters near Turkey are a major access point to Europe for migrants arriving from the Middle East.
Turkey itself is a focus of European diplomatic efforts to find a way of stemming the flow of people to Europe.
Authorities in the eastern German city of Dresden increased security measures Monday ahead of a planned one-year anniversary rally by the far-right PEGIDA group. The acronym stands for Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West.
PEGIDA has held weekly gatherings protesting Germany's position on the migrant crisis. The country has let in tens of thousands of asylum seekers this year.
On Saturday, a German mayoral candidate was stabbed in a xenophobic attack while campaigning in a market in Cologne, a city in western Germany.
Further north Monday, train service between France and England was suspended after migrants rushed the Eurotunnel.