Hungary will seal off its border with Croatia from midnight (2200 GMT) on Friday to stem the flow of thousands of migrants arriving daily, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced after a meeting of the national security cabinet.

Szijjarto said the EU leaders' meeting in Brussels failed to decide on a common force to protect Greece's borders, while it was clear that Hungary had to protect the external frontiers of the EU's passport-free Schengen zone.

He said Hungary had informed Croatia, Slovenia, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, and Germany about the decision to seal off the border. He said migrants would be able to submit asylum requests at two transit zones to be set up on the border with Croatia, and crossing will only be possible via official border stations.