Migrants’ Balkans surge continues despite EU moves

Thousands wait in long lines; winter temperatures loom.

BELGRADE, SERBIA — With freezing weather setting in, tens of thousands of migrants surging across Europe could face even more hurdles after European Union leaders pledged to stem their flflow by introducing tighter border controls.

EU leaders committed at a weekend summit to helping the Balkans handle the flflow of people making their way through the region en route to more prosperous countries. But with record numbers arriving from the Middle East, Asia and Africa, the moves will likely make their journeys more diffifficult.

On Monday, thousands of people, including many women, children and elderly, waited in long lines at the Croatian and Slovenia borders as the flflow of humanity continued unabated.

It is not diffifficult for me, but for people with families and children, it is so hard,” said a 19-yearold Afghan, Habibi Loh.

Humanitarian offifficials warned of plummeting winter temperatures.

“In the short term, the situation is manageable,” said Antonija Zaniuk of the Slovenian Red Cross. “We have a lot of winter clothing, blankets. We are distributing cups of tea, food. But, in the long term, who knows.”

In a statement seeking to paper over deep divisions about how to handle the crisis, the EU and Balkan leaders meeting in Brussels committed to bolster the borders of Greece as it struggles to cope with the wave of refugees who cross over through Turkey. They also pledged to boost the capacities of reception centers in Greece and along the Balkans route to shelter 100,000 more people as winter looms and additional EU border watchdog agency offifficials are deployed to monitor the flflow.

“This is a step in the right direction and now it is crucial to respect the commitments,” said Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar, whose tiny Alpine nation has been overwhelmed since Hungary put up a fence on the border with Serbia and Croatia, diverting the flflow to Slovenia.

Slovenia has hinted that it will build a fence on the border with Croatia if the migrant surge becomes too diffifficult to handle.

“OK, place a fence, but if you are not ready to shoot at the people, it will not stop anyone,” Croatian Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic said amid a spat between the two neighbors over how to handle the crisis.

Croatian police said that as of early Monday, more than 13,000 migrants had arrived from Serbia over the previous 24 hours, while Slovenian police reported nearly 10,000 arrivals from Croatia in the same period.