Hungary offers buses to take migrants to Austrian border

BICSKE, Hungary — Stepping back from a confrontation with asylum-seekers that drew condemnation from throughout Europe, Hungary will use buses to ferry thousands of migrants from Budapest to the border with Austria, a senior government official said Friday.

The government’s fierce attitude to asylum-seekers fleeing war and poverty sent more than a thousand of them on a long march across the nation in a bid to reach Western Europe, where they hope for better lives.

In recent days authorities had tried to halt their journey by stopping rail traffic, penning them in migrant camps and bolstering security at the border.

The Hungarian government will provide buses to asylum-seekers who want to travel to the Austrian border, said Janos Lazar, the Hungarian president’s chief of staff, in an address in parliament.

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