Kranj (Slovenia) (AFP) – Thousands of people in Slovenia on Saturday protested against the proposed opening of a migrants’ centre.

Around 3,000 protesters, according to state Radio Slovenija, waved Slovenian flags and banners with slogans such as “Migrants’ centre: no thanks!” and “The duty of all patriots is defend the country from this government”.

The protest near the town of Kranj, around 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of capital Ljubljana, was called by a civil group and backed by the main opposition centre-right Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS).

The authorities have said they could open a migrants’ accommodation centre in an abandoned home improvement store near the town.

The protestors formed a circle in front of the building playing accordions and singing traditional songs as drivers sounded car horns and others whistled.

Since mid-October Slovenia has been a key transit nation on the Balkan migrant trail from Greece toward Austria and Germany.

Slovenia controls 670 kilometres (410 miles) of the passport-free Schengen zone’s external border.

Slovenia has stepped up security along its border with Croatia on to avoid becoming a bottleneck after Austria introduced a daily cap on asylum-seekers on Friday.

Only 227 of the 470,000 migrants that passed through Slovenia since mid-October have applied for asylum, the country’s Interior Ministry said last week.