Report: Hungarian police asked Croatians to stay on train

A train carrying roughly 850 refugees was sent from Croatia into Hungary on Friday, and other trains continued to bring in more refugees yesterday, as Croatia has more refugees than it can handle according to reports.

On Friday, Hungarian Government Spokesperson Zoltán Kovács said approximately 40 Croatian police officers escorting the train, as well as the train staff, were arrested in Hungary for bringing in the train without permission. He said the Croatians were charged and then released.

According to local daily nol.hu, the train arriving from Croatia stopped at the Croatian-Hungarian border, and six Hungarian police officers who boarded the train asked the Croatian officers and train staff to stay on the train, and escort it to Magyarbóly. After telephoning to check with their command, the Croatian police reportedly, agreed to help the Hungarian police, and the train left for Magyarbóly.

The nol.hu reporter claimed that the Croatian police were helpful, even though they had not intended to enter Hungary, and when the train stopped at Magyarbóly, the Croatians helped the Hungarian police transfer refugees from the Croatian train to a Hungarian train. That train eventually took the refugees to the Austrian border, according to reports.

After the incident, Kovács was quoted as calling the action an “unprecedented border violation.” In response, Croatian Prime Minster Zoran Milanovic said yesterday that Croatia would continue to send refugees from their country into Hungary without permission.

“We forced Hungarians to accept refugees by sending people there, and that is what we will keep doing,” Zoran Milanovic was quoted as saying by origo.hu.

In fact, several other trains full of refugees followed yesterday, and Hungarian authorities simply moved those refugees to the Austrian border, where they have been allowed to continue their trip westward, according to reports.