Police spokesman Helmut Marban says Monday that nearly 24,000 people fleeing their homelands had crossed in over the weekend.

He says 3,200 more have already arrived Monday at the Nickelsdorf crossing, the main point of entry into Austria from Hungary.

Poland`s former president, Lech Walesa, says refugees must be ready to respect the rules and religion in predominantly Catholic Poland if they are to be accepted.

Solidarity founder Walesa said Monday that a set of rules for admission is needed because with time the refugees will "demand space for themselves and we will have religious, social and all other problems."

While preserving their own religion they should "not cause problems for another religion," Walesa told The Associated Press. He says "if someone agrees to the rules, he is admitted, if not, that`s his choice.

The European Union wants Poland to accept some 12,000 refugees.

The Hungarian government is warning migrants not to enter the country illegally saying it is a crime punishable by imprisonment.

In a full-page advertisement in Lebanon`s leading An-Nahar daily Monday, the government says "the strongest possible action is taken" against people who attempt to enter Hungary illegally.

Hungary, which closed its border with Serbia on Sept. 15, erected another steel barrier at the Beremend border crossing from Croatia to try to slow the flow of migrants. But they kept coming.

People fleeing violence and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa are rushing from one European border to the next as they desperately try to find a way north.

Thousands more continue to brave the Mediterranean in rickety boats as they try to reach more welcoming countries like Germany and Sweden.

Authorities in Croatia have set up a migrant reception center in the eastern Croatian village of Opatovac, hoping to inject order into the unrelenting chaos that has gripped the country overwhelmed by thousands seeking sanctuary in Europe.

Croatian authorities said Monday that some 27,000 people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia had entered the country since Hungary shut its border with Serbia on Sept. 15. That closure stymied many migrants, who found their way blocked as governments bickered over who should take responsibility for them.

The new center is expected to register the asylum seekers and then arrange for transport onward.

But asylum seekers were worried, even though they`ve been promised they will eventually be sent to Hungary or Slovenia.

"Now we`re waiting for their decision, we don`t know what will happen, " said Salakh Arbash, 18, from Syria.

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