IHungary has reopened its main border crossing with Serbia, whose closure led thousands of migrants to surge into Croatia and resulted in the shunting of the desperate flood of humanity from one country to another.
Hungarian and Serbian interior ministers jointly reopened the Horgos-Roszke 1 crossing, which had been closed since Monday, closing off the main route linking Belgrade and Budapest..
“The situation dictated the closure (of the border crossing) but in cooperation with our Serbian colleagues, the problems have been overcome and conditions reached for it to reopen,” says Hungarian Interior Minister Sandor Pinter.
Migrants and refugees arrive at the railway station in Szentgotthard, 246 kilometers southwest of Budapest, Hungary, near the Austrian border, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015. (Gyorgy Varga/MTI via AP)
The closure had led thousands of migrants fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa to try and find other routes to western and northern Europe, where most want to start a new life.
The crossing was the site of clashes on Wednesday between baton-wielding Hungarian riot police and migrants and the reopening follows negotiations with Pinter’s Serbian counterpart, Nebojsa Stefanovic.
Relations between Hungary and Serbia have been complicated by Hungary’s decision to construct a razor-wire fence along its 175-kilometer (110-miile) border with Serbia to keep migrants out.
— AFP and AP
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