'Our borders are under threat. Hungary is under threat and so is the whole of Europe,' Viktor Orban added

saying 'the strongest possible action' will be taken


Thousands of refugees continued to arrive in the Balkans today, despite the Hungarian government posting adverts in Lebanese and Jordanian newspapers warning them that entering the country illegally is a crime punishable by imprisonment.

In a full-page advertisement in several newspapers, including Lebanon's leading An-Nahar and Jordan's Al-Rai, the government said 'the strongest possible action is taken' against people who attempt to enter Hungary illegally.

This afternoon Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban followed up the adverts with incendiary language, insisting that Europe's borders are threatened by the refugees, who he claimed were 'breaking down the doors'. He subsequently granted the Hungarian army additional powers to deal with the crisis.

The news comes as the German interior minister proposed plans the European Union to take in a fixed number of refugees directly from crisis-hit areas, in the hope of calming the crisis-hit Balkans states and limiting the number of refugees risking their lives at sea to reach Europe.

Thomas de Maiziere said his 'personal initiative' would see 'generous' EU quotas to bring in refugees from crisis-hit regions and spread them around the continent. If the quotas are exceeded, his plan is still to rescue those in need, but to take them to 'safe regions' outside Europe.

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Human tide: Directed by Hungarian police a huge group of refugees make their way through the countryside near the Croatian border today

Migrants walk through the countryside after crossing the Hungarian-Croatian border. Croatia and Hungary have traded barbs on a national level, each pointing the finger at the other over their responses to Europe's escalating migrant crisis

Policemen maintain order as refugees are held near Tovarnik to wait for buses crossing the border from Serbia

Directed by Hungarian police, refugees make their way through the countryside along the Hungarian-Croatian border

Thousands of refugees continued to arrive in the Balkans today, despite the Hungarian government posting adverts in Lebanese and Jordanian newspapers warning them that entering the country illegally is a crime punishable by imprisonment

Migrants make their way through the countryside after they crossed the Hungarian-Croatian border near the village of Zakany today

Croatian policemen maintain order as refugees are held near Tovarnik to wait for buses at the border crossing with Serbia

New arrivals: Migrants are reflected in a puddle as they are waiting for a permission to move towards the train station at a refugee camp near Gevgelija, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Warning: The Hungarian government has posted ads in Lebanese and Jordanian newspapers warning migrants not to enter Hungary illegally - saying it is a crime punishable by imprisonment

Hungary's adverts in the Middle Eastern press were written in both English and Arabic and read: 'Do not listen to the people smugglers. Hungary will not allow illegal immigrants to cross its territory.'

Lebanon has nearly 1.2 million Syrian refugees and Jordan about 630,000, some of whom have expressed interest in migrating to Europe because of dwindling aid and work opportunities.

Hungary, which closed its border with Serbia on September 15, has now erected another steel barrier at the Beremend border crossing with Croatia to try to slow the flow of migrants.

But still they keep coming. For many fleeing violence and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, Hungary is the easiest-to-reach member of the Schengen Zone - the 26 European countries that have abolished passport and border controls at their common borders - effectively allowing refugees to travel on to more desirable Western European countries, such as Germany and Sweden.

Speaking shortly before the Hungarian parliament voted to give the army additional powers to deal with the migrant crisis, Prime Minister Viktor Orban used incendiary language to talk up the threat posed to Europe by the refugees.

They are over-running us... They're not just banging on the door, they're breaking the doors down on top of us. - Viktor Orban, Hungarian PM

'They are over-running us...They're not just banging on the door, they're breaking the doors down on top of us,' he said.

'Our borders are under threat. Hungary is under threat and so is the whole of Europe,' he added.

Earlier this month, Denmark's Ministry of Immigration, Integration and Housing posted advertisements in Lebanese newspapers aiming to deter migrants, saying that the Scandinavian nation has reduced social aid to migrants by 50 percent recently.

Denmark also warned that migrants whose applications are rejected will be deported immediately.

Germany remains the prime destination for those flooding into Europe, however. It expects at least 800,000 to arrive this year - one official has said possibly 1 million - and is struggling to deal with the influx.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has stressed repeatedly that Germany will take in people fleeing civil wars and persecution, although people arriving for economic reasons must return home. She has said there is no legal limit to the number of asylum-seekers Germany can take.

Migrants disembark a train that brought them to Botovo, Croatia this afternoon. The town is on the border with Hungary

Migrants walk towards Hungary from the village of Botovo in Croatia today. The town is on the border between the two countries

Migrants walk towards Hungary from the village of Botovo in Croatia today. Thousands of people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia have streamed into Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary

Hungarian soldiers walk past a razor wire fence near the village of Sarok. The fence is being built along the border with Croatia

Tent city: Meanwhile authorities in Croatia have set up a migrant reception center in the eastern village of Opatovac

Shelter: Croatian authorities hope the Opatovac camp will inject order into the unrelenting chaos that has gripped the country overwhelmed by thousands seeking sanctuary in Europe

Migrants walk the last few miles from Serbia to Croatia as thousands more migrants continue to arrive by bus this morning

Croatian police stand by piles of rubbish left in Tovarnik railway station after refugees were moved on towards Hungary and Austria

A woman and a child walk the last few miles from Serbia to Croatia as more migrants continue to arrive in the town of Sid this morning

Volunteers clean a makeshift camp after hundreds of refugees were allowed to cross into Slovenia at the border station near Obretzje

Migrants disembark a train that brought them to the village of Botovo on the Hungary-Croatia this morning. Thousands of people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia have streamed into Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary

A group of refugees get off a train that brought them to the village of Botovo on the Hungary-Croatia this morning

A young girl plays with a balloon amidst a group of refugees waiting for bus transfer at the border between Hungary and Austria

De Maiziere today said his initiative doesn't question that, and people who do seek asylum in Germany would still have their application examined.

'We won't be able to, or want to, shut ourselves off completely in Europe,' he said. But 'we will not be able to take in all refugees from the whole world, or all those who seek their economic future in Europe, that is also clear.'

De Maiziere, a member of Merkel's conservative party, wouldn't specify how large the proposed contingents should be. The idea, first floated in a weekend magazine interview, drew an unenthusiastic response from its center-left coalition partners.

We will not be able to take in all refugees from the whole world, or all those who seek their economic future in Europe. - German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere speaking this afternoon

German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, a Social Democrat, told ARD television Sunday night that it appeared to be 'the opposite of what the chancellor has rightly said... Setting up contingents for asylum-seekers is not a solution,' he said.

The news comes as Austrian police spokesman Helmut Marban said that nearly 24,000 people fleeing their homelands had crossed in over the weekend.

He says that already this morning 3,200 more have already arrived at the Nickelsdorf crossing - the main point of entry into Austria from Hungary.

Meanwhile Croatian Interior Minister Ranko Ostojic boarded a bus full of migrants this morning when he was visiting a newly established reception center in Opatovac in eastern Croatia.

As the television cameras followed, Ostojic told the group they would be given refreshments 'and then you will be transported to Europe.'

The new centre is expected to register the asylum seekers and then arrange for transport onward. But asylum seekers were worried, even though they've been promised they will eventually be sent to Hungary or Slovenia.

Croatia has been under extreme pressure since thousands of asylum seekers got stuck there after Hungary shut its border last week. Those fleeing violence in their homelands have faced riot police in Hungary, Macedonia, Slovenia and Turkey.

Croatian authorities today claimed that some 27,000 people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia had entered the country since Hungary shut the border.

Migrants queue outside the Berlin Office of Health and Social Affairs as they wait for their asylum registration earlier this morning

Hungarian soldiers work on a fence that is being built at the border with Croatia near the village of Sarok earlier this afternoon

A refugee carries her child arrives with other migrants and refugees to a newly erected refugee camp in the Croatian town of Opatovac

Refugees from different countries walk over a bridge near the green border between Hungary and Croatia in Botovo, Croatia

Refugees disembark a bus before walking the last few miles from Serbia to Croatia earlier this morning

Desperate refugees board a train at the railway station in Tovarnik, Croatia earlier this morning

Police officers let a man cross the Croatian-Slovenian border near the town of Rigonce, where hundreds of refugees have gathered

A woman crosses the Croatian-Slovenian border in Rigonce where hundreds of migrants have gathered

A young boy looks at a police officer as his family cross the Croatian-Slovenian border in Rigonce

Refugees crowd in front of a line of police officers to cross the border from Croatia to the Slovenian village of Rigonce overnight

Slovenian police officers face refugees waiting to cross the border from Croatia to the Slovenian village of Rigonce

Refugees crowd in front of a line of police officers to cross the border from Croatia to the Slovenian village of Rigonce

Meanwhile Poland's foreign minister said Warsaw was able to take in more refugees than its share of over 9,000 under the European Union quota plan but would like to see the bloc's borders sealed.

The eastern EU member has so far agreed to accept only 2,000 refugees as Europe struggles to cope with its worst migration crisis since World War II.

Warsaw however insists on accepting asylum seekers on a voluntary basis, rejecting the obligatory quotas proposed by the European Commission.

'Poland is able to take in more refugees on a voluntary basis than those stipulated by the compulsory quotas proposed by the European Commission,' Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna wrote in an opinion piece in the Gazeta Wyborcza daily, without specifying a number.

'But for this to happen, comprehensive and effective changes must be made by the European Union and its member states on organising political asylum and migration,' he added in the editorial also published by several other European news outlets.

'We need to strike the right balance between helping those in need and guaranteeing the security of our citizens.'

Migrants warm themselves by a fire as they wait to board buses in Tovarnik, near the Serbian border with Croatia today

A migrant child gives a thumbs-up as he arrives to a newly erected refugee camp in the Croatian town of Opatovac

Refugees and supporters sit on the roadway in front of the border station of Obretzje and block the highway between Croatia and Slovenia

Migrants walk towards a train after crossing the border from Croatia into the village of Zakany, Hungary

Migrants who crossed the border from Croatia are escorted by Hungarian police officers to the railway station in Zakany

The migrant influx has created a deep rift between western and eastern EU members, with hardliners like the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia opposed to the obligatory quotas championed by Germany.

The foreign ministers of the four eastern states are due to meet in Prague later Monday to discuss the migrant crisis along with their counterparts from Latvia, Romania and Luxembourg, which holds the EU presidency.

'The first priority must be to seal EU borders. Only by doing so will we be able to avoid further chaos and brutal skirmishes on the frontiers,' Schetyna said in the editorial.

'We must make sure that extradition agreements are enforced. Thorough border controls have to be implemented.'

He also called on the EU to 'invest in reception centres for refugees,' where they would be identified as either refugees or economic migrants.

He added that the EU must also help bolster stability in the countries from which the refugees are fleeing by playing 'a more active role in helping defuse conflicts, in particular in Syria and Libya.'