Only people who plan to seek asylum immediately upon entry, or those with clear humanitarian needs, will be allowed in, governments say

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Slovenia and neighbouring Croatia will from Wednesday refuse to allow the transit of most refugees through their territory in a bid to seal off the Balkan route used by hundreds of thousands of people seeking a new life in Europe.



The move could set off a domino effect among Balkan states, with Serbia indicating it would follow Ljubljana’s lead and Macedonia apparently set to do the same.

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The attempt to shut down the main route used by refugees fleeing war and persecution outside Europe’s borders comes barely a day after the EU and Turkey agreed on a proposal aimed at easing the crisis.

EU officials hailed Monday’s deal with Ankara as an important breakthrough, but the head of the UN refugee agency cast doubt on its legality, while Amnesty International said the plan “dealt a death blow to the right to seek asylum”.

Slovenia’s interior ministry said late on Tuesday that from midnight (2300 GMT), access would only be granted to “foreigners meeting the requirements to enter the country”, those wishing to claim asylum, and refugees selected “on a case by case basis on humanitarian grounds and in accordance with the rules of the Schengen zone”.

Fellow EU member Croatia, which is not part of the passport-free Schengen zone, said it would follow Slovenia’s lead and refuse transit to most refugees as of midnight.

“Apparently Europe has decided to start a new phase in resolving the migrant crisis. It was concluded that on the Schengen zone borders the Schengen rules would be applied,” interior minister Vlaho Orepic told RTL commercial television.

Croatia, which had already limited the number allowed to enter, would now only allow in refugees with proper visas.

“The border of Europe will be on the Macedonia-Greek frontier and we will respect the decisions which were made,” he said.

More than a million people from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq have crossed the Aegean Sea into Greece since the start of 2015, most aiming to reach Germany and Scandinavia. The influx has caused deep divisions among EU members about how to deal with Europe’s worst refugee crisis since the second world war.

Serbia said that following Slovenia’s move, it would “align all measures with the European Union” and impose the same restrictions at its borders with Macedonia and Bulgaria.

Slovenia and Serbia, along with Austria, Croatia and Macedonia, have dramatically restricted entry to migrants in recent weeks, leaving a bottleneck of some 36,000 stuck at the Greek-Macedonian border, unable to continue their journey.

Macedonia said it would only grant entry to the number of migrants that will be allowed to transit through neighbouring Serbia and on towards Europe.