MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Large number of refugees have started to enter Croatia from Serbia since Wednesday, following Budapest's decision to tighten its border control with Serbia. Hungary has been so far the main transit country on the way of migrants from the Middle East to Western and Northern Europe.
"As of 19:00 [17:00 GMT], some 17,089 migrants have entered the Republic of Croatia since the beginning of the refugee crisis. The largest influx of people was [registered] today near Tovarnik and Ilok checkpoints, where over 3,500 people have passed through during the day," the ministry said in a statement published on its website.
Earlier on Friday, Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic stated that the country was no longer capable of registering and housing all the refugees arriving there, and therefore had decided to start sending them to its external borders by bus.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has condemned Croatia for inciting refugees to break a law by illegally crossing the Hungarian border.