Croatia closes borders to those without EU visa

BELGRADE, Serbia

Croatia will not allow anyone without an EU visa to cross its borders from Wednesday, Interior Minister Vlaho Orepic has said.

"Clearly, Europe has decided to enter into a new stage of solving the migrant crisis. There was a conclusion that borders in the Schengen area apply the Schengen rules," Orepic told local RTL television on Tuesday night.

Orepic also said that there had been no entry of refugees to Croatia over the past two days.

Meanwhile, Serbia has said it will harmonize its rules with border decisions by Slovenia and Croatia.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Serbian Labor Minister Aleksandar Vulin said: "The Serbian government has taken a clear political stance from the start of the migrant crisis that a solution must be found together and that Serbia will behave as all other countries on the migrant route."

Earlier, Slovenia also said it would not allow anyone without an EU visa to cross its borders from midnight on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Miro Cerar said in a statement Tuesday that Monday’s EU-Turkey summit in Brussels had “sent a very clear message to all those who smuggle refugees and illegal migrants that [the] Balkan route no longer exists”.

The summit paved the way for an agreement which will see migrants returned to Turkey if they do not apply for asylum when they arrive in Greece.

Greece is currently handling 32,000 refugees who have become trapped as countries along the Balkans route tighten border restrictions.

Croatia and Slovenia are part of the route that takes refugees from Greece to Germany and beyond.