Tensions rise as thousands of migrants head north through Balkan states

Slovenian authorities said Monday they had refused to let in more than 1,000 migrants arriving from Croatia after a daily quota had been reached, stoking fears of a new human bottleneck on the western Balkan route, AFP reports.

After Hungary closed all its informal border crossings with Croatia on midnight on Friday, Croatia chose to organize transpors of refugees to the border with Slovenia, where they could enter Schengen passport-free zone and continue their journey towards Germany and northern Europe.

"We have no more money, no jacket, no food", he said, pleading to be permitted to reach Germany without further delays.

The Austrian Interior Ministry said that the Slovenian minister asked her Austrian colleague to allow more refugees to enter daily, and that this proposal was rejected, but that there were no changes regarding the crossing of the border, and that the two ministers "did not discuss a concrete number of refugees". Now, Hungary has closed the Hungary-Slovenia border as well.

Hungary's decision to seal its border with Croatia on Saturday - in a reaction to what it sees as a threat to Europe's prosperity, security and "Christian values" - has narrowed the route to Europe for thousands fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa, amid the continent's biggest refugee crisis since World War II.

More than 2,500 migrants were reported to have crossed over into Austria from Slovenia this weekend. It has said it would only accept the number of refugees who are able to exit the country directly to Austria.

For hours, the migrants sought ways to sneak into Slovenia on foot while Croatian police on the other side prevented them from turning back.

Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar said on Saturday that "since Slovenia is a transit country, it will introduce stricter rules on border, if the same is implemented by other states".

"We are in cold weather and the place is not good", said Farouk al-Hatib, a Syrian who was waiting to cross from Serbia.

It has also proposed giving Turkey three billion euros ($3.4 billion) in aid and the prospect of easier travel visas and "re-energised" talks on joining the bloc if it helps stem the flow across its territory.

Babar Baloch, regional spokesman for Central Europe for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, says the new migrant route through Slovenia has significantly prolonged their already weeks-long journey toward Western Europe.

Across the border in Serbia, hundreds of people have been sitting in a few 20 buses since early hours Sunday waiting to cross to Croatia. "There will be challenges if the process becomes slow or we have a backlog of people", he said.

Cleaners went in after the migrants left, preparing the site for the next wave of asylum seekers expected to arrive soon.