“We are in contact with neighboring countries”, he said. “We have hearts, but we also have heads”.

The arrival of 13,000 in the space of 48 hours, many crossing fields and some dodging police, has proved too much for one of the EU’s less prosperous states in a crisis that has divided the 28-nation bloc and left it scrambling to respond. Instead, they are trying to reach Western European countries such as Germany that have said they are welcome.

Slovenia and Hungary are treaty members and say they are protecting Europe’s borders.

Within minutes of Hungary closing its border on Monday, the news had filtered back to the many thousands of migrants already trekking there.

He encouraged migrants to move onward to attempt to enter Slovenia and Hungary.

While traumatized families remain stranded at the edges of the continent, ministers in Brussels are gridlocked over an agreement to relocate just 120,000 migrants, without any long-term plan for resettlement or coordinated EU-wide immigration reform.

Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said the incident “raised the suspicion of the violation of the border“, a separate video of HirTv showed.

However, Croatian police spokeswoman Jelena Bikic said no one had been disarmed or arrested, the escort had been agreed in advance, and the police had returned to Croatia.

Just over 17,000 migrants have entered Croatia in the past three days, after Hungary sealed its border with Serbia. “We need to deal with the problem where our (the EU’s) external borders begin”, Faymann said. The president has told the military to be ready if called on to help stop the flow of people. It was unclear whether Hungary would take further measures along its long border with Croatia. However, Croatia has now closed all but one of its border crossings with Serbia. “We can’t do it any more“, Milanovic said.

Numerous migrants, about 30 busloads, had traveled roughly 300 miles through Serbia, from its southern border with Macedonia to its northern border with Croatia.

She said she had been traveling for two months with her son, and added: “Look at me. I just wanted to get somewhere I could live with a bit of dignity”.

Although EU law enables freedom of movement generally within European borders, asylum seekers are bound by the Dublin Regulation, which typically forces people to seek asylum in the country they are first registered, with few exceptions.

“We came here last night when they said ‘Wait here for a while!’ and then they brought in police cars to block the bridge”, said Ahmed Ali from the embattled Damascus neighbourhood of Yarmouk, who was holding a baby girl in his arms.

Anxious by the situation, Slovenia stopped all rail traffic on the main line from Croatia.

Austrian Prime Minister Werner Faymann is holding talks Thursday in Zagreb, the Croatia capital, and Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital.

Hundreds evaded Croatian police, trekked through fields and reached the border with Slovenia by train on Thursday, part of a desperate and determined march westwards that is dividing Europe.

A group of Slovenian activists had crossed into Croatia earlier, chanting “refugees welcome” on the other side. His government has said it will receive asylum requests, but not create a “corridor” for refugees to simply pass through Slovenia and into Austria.