As of Zero hours, 17th October, Hungary will close its natural borders with Croatia, the Schengen criteria will be strictly applied.
— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) October 16, 2015
According to the statement, two transit zones have been established, where migrants entering the country can be registered.
"Mr. Kovács underlined the fact that it remains possible to enter the country legally through the Hungarian-Croatian border as well," the statement on the Hungarian government website said.
The last train from Zakany before the reinforcement of the borders of Europe. pic.twitter.com/pjC81qq4o9
— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) October 16, 2015
On Friday evening, Slovenia stopped rail transport from Croatia and strengthened security at its borders.
Over 700,000 migrants arrived in the European Union within the first nine months of 2015, according to EU border protection agency Frontex. The migrants are leaving their conflict-torn countries in Africa and the Middle East, such as Syria, in search of better life conditions in wealthy EU countries, such as Germany and Austria.
Hungary has been a major transit country for the refugees. Las month, Hungary closed its border with Serbia in an effort to curb the influx of refugees.
In September, the European Commission announced a quota scheme, providing for the resettlement of 160,000 refugees currently located in Greece, Italy and Hungary, throughout other European countries.