World

German police deploy on Serbian-Hungarian border to try stop massive migrant exodus to EU

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Mounted police officers patrol in the vicinity of Morahalom, 179 kms southeast of Budapest, Hungary, next to the Serbian border, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015. More than thirty officers of the special unit of the Hungarian police have been deployed in this border area. In the last few months, tens of thousands of mostly Kosovo Albanians seeking a better life in the EU have flooded across Serbia into EU member Hungary. The migrants also have included many Syrians, Afghans, Iraqis and others. (AP Photo/MTI, Zoltan Gergely Kelemen) (The Associated Press)

Mounted police officers patrol in the vicinity of Morahalom, 179 kms southeast of Budapest, Hungary, next to the Serbian border, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015. More than thirty officers of the special unit of the Hungarian police have been deployed in this border area. In the last few months, tens of thousands of mostly Kosovo Albanians seeking a better life in the EU have flooded across Serbia into EU member Hungary. The migrants also have included many Syrians, Afghans, Iraqis and others. (AP Photo/MTI, Zoltan Gergely Kelemen) (The Associated Press)

Members of the German border police check a security camera display as they monitor a stretch of the Serbian border with Hungary in the village of Hajdukovo, some 180 kilometers north of Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Feb. 13, 2015. Some 20 German police officers, equipped with vehicles with thermal vision cameras, joined Serbian security forces on Serbia's border with Hungary on Friday to try to halt a torrent of migrants that has alarmed many European Union countries. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) (The Associated Press)

Some 20 German police officers have joined Serbian security forces on Serbia's border with Hungary to try to halt a torrent of migrants that has alarmed many European Union countries.

The Germans, equipped with vehicles with thermal vision cameras, were starting their patrols Friday.

In the last few months, tens of thousands of mostly Kosovo Albanians seeking a better life in the EU have flooded across Serbia into EU member Hungary. The migrants also have included many Syrians, Afghans, Iraqis and others.

Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, is one of the poorest countries in Europe.

Once migrants are inside Hungary, they can travel freely to most other EU countries. Many seek asylum in richer EU states such as Germany, France or Sweden.