Roundup: Italian media critical of treatment of refugees by Hungary

Italian media on Thursday expressed criticism over the tough approach of the Hungarian police towards asylum seekers.

"Tear gas, pepper spray, and water cannon: Hungary continues its war to fend off refugees pressing on its border with Serbia," Turin-based La Stampa newspaper wrote, commenting on the scenes of violence occurred at a Hungarian-Serbian crossing point the previous day.

On Wednesday, Hungarian riot police were involved in a tense confrontation with hundreds of people amassed at the other side of the closed frontier, most of whom would be asylum-seekers from Syria, Iraq, and other countries affected by violence or war.

Several people were reportedly hurt in the clashes. Videos taken at the scene, and largely displayed by Italian media, showed children were also affected by the tear gas used by the police.

Some asylum seekers responded by throwing stones at Hungarian security forces.

Other major media also highlighted the sharp reaction of United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who said he was "shocked" by the violent scenes and called such treatment of the refugees "unacceptable".

Many Italian outlets followed the tense evolving of the crisis with live coverage throughout Thursday, as thousands of people were reported as changing their route through Croatia after the passage into Hungary was denied to them.

"At least 6,500 migrants and asylum seekers reached Croatia after the closure of the Hungarian border," Il Corriere della Sera reported, citing police sources.

The paper stressed tension was mounting there as well, after migrants broke through Croatian police lines in the border town of Tovarnik, and Croatian authorities changed their mind and declared they would not allow people to continue their journey to Slovenia.

"(Also) Slovenia has reintroduced border controls for 10 days, as announced by EU Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas," the daily wrote. "The migrant crisis is undermining the whole Balkans".

Italian media also paid attention to latest developments within EU institutions. On Thursday, EU Council President Donald Tusk in fact called a new extraordinary meeting on migration for September 23, while the European Parliament (EP) backed the plan for mandatory refugee quotas with a large majority of 372 in favour and 124 against.

The proposal was put forward by the EU Commission, and would provide the relocation of 160,000 asylum seekers from Italy, Greece, and Hungary across other EU countries over two years.

However, the EP's vote was not binding, and many EU countries still object to the plan.

Italy has long been calling for a EU's common response to the crisis and an equal distribution of the asylum seekers across the EU. On Thursday, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi restated this position.

"Europe must be united in facing this topic," Renzi told a joint press conference with Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel in Rome.

"This means all issues related to the migration topic are connected: hotspots (to identify and fingerprint migrants), repatriation, relocation," Renzi said. Endit