OPATOVAC, Croatia (AP) – Croatia’s prime minister has dismissed Hungary’s plan to build a fence between the two countries, arguing on Tuesday that nothing would be able to hold back the human wave seeking sanctuary in richer European countries.
Croatia’s Zoran Milanovic did not hold back in his criticism of Hungary’s Viktor Orban as he visited a transit camp in the eastern village of Opatovac, suggesting the leaders of the two neighboring countries were barely speaking.
Milanovic said there’s “no river border between Croatia and Hungary and it’s virtually impossible to hold this bitter river of people at bay.”
“It’s not right,” he said. “So I will not talk to Orban. I wonder whoever speaks to him.”
Tensions about how to deal with the migrants have prompted many leaders in southeastern Europe to bicker. The strongest language so far has been between Croatia and its old rival Serbia, but Milanovic’s forthright remarks about Hungary underscore how much diplomatic work needs to be done among all of the countries in the region.