Relieved migrants cross Hungary-Austria border

Weary migrants were finally able to cross Hungary’s border with Austria on Saturday after the Budapest government gave up its efforts to stop them.

Defiantly, hundreds had set out for the frontier on foot.

But they were finally bussed to the border in vehicles provided by overwhelmed Hungarian authorities, unable to deter the migrants and refugees from pursuing their quest for a new life in western Europe.

Hungary cited traffic safety for the decision.

But it appeared to mark an admission that the government had lost control in the face of huge numbers determined to reach western Europe having fled war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

“Because of today’s emergency situation on the Hungarian border, Austria and Germany agree in this case to a continuation of the refugees’ journey into their countries,” Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said on his Facebook page.

Dropped off at the frontier, the first group walked into Austria in the early hours of Saturday