Cheers as migrants reach Munich after long ordeal

The first group of what are expected to be some 10,000 migrants has been greeted in Munich after an arduous journey through Hungary and Austria.

German members of the public applauded and offered sweets as some 450 migrants arrived on a special train service.

The plight of the migrants has highlighted the EU’s struggle to deal with a surge of asylum seekers

Earlier this week there were chaotic scenes in Budapest as Hungary blocked them from travelling onwards.

Many migrants refused to be taken to camps in Hungary to register for asylum, insisting they wanted to travel on to Germany and Austria.

Crowds broke through security lines and began walking 175km (108 miles) to the border, many with small children.

Under mounting pressure, Hungary opened its border with Austria, which expects to have received some 10,000 people by the end of Saturday.

Germany has said it was willing to accept up to 800,000 people

Read also: Migrant crisis: Austria to let people in from Hungary

Chancellor Angela Merkel had said Germany can cope with an influx of newcomers, without raising taxes or jeopardising its budget

And Austria has said it will not limit the number of migrants crossing its borders, with an interior ministry spokesperson telling the BBC on Saturday that that the nation was dealing with an influx of people from “crisis regions” who were “desperate”.

However, there is little sign of a co-ordinated EU response to the crisis, despite more than 350,000 migrants having crossed the EU’s borders in 2015 alone.

Europe’s migrant crisis is “here to stay” and nations must act together to deal with it effectively, the EU’s foreign policy chief said after “difficult” talks with foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

“In three months’ time, it will be other member states under the focus, and in six months, it could be again others,” Federica Mogherini said.

Credit: BBC

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