Hungary migrants start walk to border

Hundreds of migrants stuck at a Budapest railway station for days have set off on foot, saying they intend to walk to Austria.

Hungarian authorities are trying to contain thousands of people desperate to reach western Europe.

Meanwhile European Union states are struggling to agree a common strategy to deal with the crisis.

The Hungarian, Czech, Slovakian and Polish prime ministers have rejected quotas for EU nations.

In a statement the leaders rejected "any proposal leading to introduction of mandatory and permanent quota for solidarity measures".

The head of the UN refugee agency said EU nations must mobilise "full force" and accept up to 200,000 refugees.

Hundreds of migrants walk along the motorway in Budapest (4 September) — Image captionHundreds of migrants walked along the motorway heading out of Budapest to the west

Migrants hold pictures of German Chancellor Angela Merkel as they set off on foot for the border with Austria from Budapest, Hungary, September 4, 2015.

The chaotic scenes in Hungary - a main transit country for those seeking to claim asylum in Germany and other countries in north and west Europe - have continued for another day:

A large number - some estimate over a thousand - of migrants who had been waiting days at Budapest's Keleti station have left and plan to walk to Vienna, in the absence of trains, a journey of 240km (150 miles)
There were clashes at Keleti station on Thursday afternoon after far-right extremists threw two firecrackers towards migrants, sparking an angry response
A stand-off between police and passengers on a train held at Bicske station continues, as the people on board are refusing to go to a transit camp to be processed. Riot police have been seen entering the station, and police have formed a corridor to a waiting bus. A large group of migrants have escaped from the train and are walking along the train tracks
Hundreds of people have broken out of a refugee camp at Roszke near the Serbian border and are being pursued by police; thousands more still inside are threatening to break out too

Live updates on the crisis

Under EU regulations, anyone wishing to seek asylum must do so in the first EU country they reach.

But many of those who have arrived in Hungary do not wish to be registered there because it is more likely to send migrants back, and has a relatively small population and economy.

They want to continue on to seek asylum in Germany and other richer countries.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned on Friday of "the end of Europe".

"Today we are talking about tens of thousands but next year we will be talking about millions and this has no end," Mr Orban said.

Migrants set off on foot for the border with Austria from Budapest, Hungary, September 4, 2015 — Image captionLarge crowds of people could be seen walking through Budapest

Migrants cross the city limits of Budapest, Hungary (4 September 2015) — Image captionThis group of migrants waved an EU flag as they crossed the Budapest city limits

Antonio Guterres, head of the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, said the crisis was a defining moment for Europe.

In a statement, he said Europe needed to build "adequate reception capacities", especially in Greece, replacing a "piecemeal" approach with a "common strategy".

In other developments:

The UK government - under pressure over its response to the crisis - has agreed to provide settlement for "thousands more" Syrian refugees and an extra £100m in aid for Syrians in the Middle East
Hungarian MPs have approved tougher border controls and penalties for migrants trying to pass through to Germany
Members of the European Commission are in the Greek island of Kos to examine the difficulties caused by the large numbers of refugees and migrants landing there
EU foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels
Some 50 migrants are feared to have drowned after their boat sank off the coast of Libya, according to the International Organization for Migration

European papers seek scapegoat over migrant crisis