Hungary accuses Croatia of people smuggling after ‘illegal’ train seized

Hungary has accused Croatia of committing “a major violation of international law” by trying to transport 1,000 migrants by train across its border. Budapest described the train’s unannounced arrival as a “major, major incident” - and alleged 40 police officers accompanying the migrants had to be disarmed and sent back. Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said it showed “the Croatian system for handling migrants and refugees has collapsed, basically in one day”. "What we see today is a complete failure of the Croatian state to handle migration issues,“ he added.

What is more, we see intentional participation in human smuggling, taking these migrants to the Hungarian border.

Zoltan Kovacs

The migrants who were on the train are being transferred to a reception camp - and Hungary claims it has arrested the train driver. According to local media, It has also called up military reservists to deal with the "mass migration situation”. Its seizure of the train from Croatia is the latest development in a row that has left the fate of thousands of migrants uncertain. Croatia’s foreign minister, Vesna Pusic, said the countries had agreed “to provide a corridor” towards Austria. EU leaders are holding an urgent meeting on Wednesday to try to find a common strategy on the crisis and ease growing political tensions.

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