Hungarians Deny Croatian Police: Return of Train with Refugees Agreed by Kolinda and Orban

Hungary returned the unannounced Croatian train with migrants at the request of Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, the Hungarian government announced, denying claims by the Croatian police that the return of the train was agreed upon by the heads of the Croatian and Hungarian police, reports the Patria news agency.

The office of the Hungarian Prime Minister announced that Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Grabar-Kitarović discussed the problem of the unannounced Croatian train that arrived in the town of Magyarboly in Hungary on September 18 and was detained by Hungarian authorities during her visit to Hungary on Wednesday.

"At the request of the Croatian President, the Hungarian government decided that the return of the train to Croatia would be allowed after necessary railway safety checks," the statement said.

The statement said that the train, which was not numbered and arrived in Hungary without prior notice, carried 1,059 refugees and 36 Croatian police officers.

The return of the train, however, does not affect the criminal proceedings that are underway and which are not affected by the current location of the train, the Prime Minister's office said in the statement.

Grabar-Kitarović said on Wednesday during her visit to Hungary that she had agreed with the Hungarian authorities on the return of the detained train, but the police directorate announced that the return of the train had been agreed upon as early as October 1 at a meeting of the heads of the Croatian and Hungarian police directorates, Index writes.