BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — The war of words over Europe's migrant crisis is turning vicious, with officials in the bickering Balkans trading blame and accusations of lying, while also disparaging each other's actions as "pathetic" and a "disgrace." The plight over how to deal with thousands of asylum seekers is reviving old differences among Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia dating back to the 1990s breakup of Yugoslavia. While the 28-nation European Union remains deeply divided over how to share the burden of relocating the refugees and is convening a series of meetings this week to seek a resolution, the finger-pointing turned especially nasty in the Balkans. — Hungary blamed Serbia for failing to stop the migrants from throwing stones at its border police and accused Croatia of jeopardizing its sovereignty by sending thousands of migrants to Hungary. "The use of violence, the patrols with automatic weapons and the inciting of innocent war victims into Balkan minefields do not constitute behavior appropriate for a member-state of the European Union," Koutras said. Szijjarto then shot back: "It would be good if the Greek government didn't treat European people as if they were idiots and instead took meaningful steps to protect its border and register migrants." Eastern European nations, which firmly oppose the EU's plan for compulsory quotas to distribute refugees, failed to reach a deal Monday with Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency. The money will go to pay for emergency health care, safe drinking water, food and shelter, he said.
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