The Croatian prime minister, Zoran Milanovic, has said the country will allow the free passage of refugees across its territory “to where they apparently wish to go”. In a criticism of Hungary, he said: “These people are here ... They do not want to come to Croatia or Hungary either and that is why I do not understand where is the problem of letting them pass through that country.”

Slovenia’s interior minister, Vesna Gyorkos Znidar, has meanwhile said it will not create a “safe corridor” for refugees to pass through on their way to Germany and Scandinavia but will receive asylum requests and accommodate them.