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Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Chaos in Budapest train station amid Europe's migrant crisis

Freedom! and demanded to use their train tickets Tuesday after Hungary temporarily suspended all rail traffic from its main terminal in Budapest and cleared the station of hundreds of migrants trying to board trains for Austria and Germany. Germany has taken on far more migrants than others in the 28-nation bloc, while the front-line border nations of Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary have faced police clashes with migrants, scuffles between migrants and even deaths at sea as thousands daily cross the Mediterranean in unseaworthy smugglers' boats. Reacting to the criticism, Hungary's government announced that Prime Minister Viktor Orban will discuss the migrant crisis Thursday in Brussels with EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, EU Council President Donald Tusk, and European Parliament President Martin Schulz. Police said they did not have the manpower to carry out effective controls, which normally would include sending migrants without proper travel documents back to Hungary. Trouble at the train stations was matched by delays on the highways as Austrian authorities re-imposed border controls at main crossings from Hungary. The traffic news agency Utinform said vehicles at the Hegyeshalom crossing on the main highway from Budapest to Vienna were backed up 6 kilometers (3½ miles) Tuesday due to Austrian inspections.


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