Hundreds of migrants have broken through police lines on Hungary’s border with Serbia and are walking towards the capital, Budapest.
The migrants had earlier broken out of a registration camp at Roszke.
About 300 are reported to be walking along a motorway, escorted by police officers.
Earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that the “breathtaking” flow of migrants into Germany would change the country in the coming years.
Hungary has become a flashpoint as thousands of migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa move north to claim asylum in Germany and other countries.
The country’s defence minister resigned on Monday, reportedly over delays in the construction of a border fence meant to keep migrants out.
In other developments:
The UK will accept up to 20,000 refugees from Syria over the next five years, David Cameron has told MPs
Greece has requested emergency EU assistance to deal with migrants arriving from Turkey
Spanish media say police fired rubber bullets at migrants in a detention centre in Valencia after about 50 tried to escape
Police in Macedonia scuffled with thousands of migrants trying to cross into the country from Greece
UN chief Ban Ki-moon, in an interview with the Guardian, said the UN Security Council was failing Syria because it was divided on the issue
Hungary had previously blocked those heading north, insisting they be registered there first as required under EU rules. But it dropped restrictions on Friday after struggling to cope with thousands camping in Budapest.
About 20,000 migrants made their way from Hungary into Austria and Germany over the weekend.
At Roszke, scuffles erupted as some migrants who had broken out of a holding centre tried to force their way past police. Stones were thrown at officers, who responded with pepper spray.
About 300 managed to run to a nearby motorway, chanting “Germany, Germany”. As darkness fell, they were walking, escorted by police, against the flow of traffic towards Budapest, witnesses said.
An estimated 340,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Europe so far this year, most braving dangerous sea journeys from North Africa and Turkey.
Germany, where most migrants are headed and which expects 800,000 asylum requests this year, has said it wants other EU states to help shoulder the burden. But the crisis has divided the 28-nation bloc.
French President Francois Hollande said mandatory quotas were being drawn up to relocate 120,000 migrants across the EU, and that France would take 24,000.
The Heidemannstrasse reception centre – a converted army barracks – is providing temporary shelter to some of the thousands of refugees and migrants hoping to make Germany their permanent home.
We meet two Syrian families who arrived via Austria eight days ago. A pregnant woman and five children were among them. They had arrived in Europe by boat and then walked to Serbia before being driven to Germany in a car.
They had come to the centre looking for clean clothes and a doctor but neither were available.
I asked one of the fathers why he didn’t stay in Turkey. He told me: “I have two kids, my wife is pregnant, I can’t get work in Turkey, there is no future for my family there. I didn’t escape from war to live on the streets.”
Germany is offering what many other countries don’t – hope.
Earlier, Mrs Merkel thanked volunteers who had welcomed those arriving over the weekend, saying they had “painted a picture of Germany which can make us proud of our country”.
However, she said that although Germany was “a country willing to take people in”, it was “time for the European Union to pull its weight”.
Mrs Merkel is facing criticism at home over Germany’s willingness to accept so many asylum seekers. The Bavarian Christian Social Union, a sister party to Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrats, accused her of sending a “wrong signal”.
Hungary, along with the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania, has rejected the idea of official quotas. Prime Minister Viktor Orban said “as long as we can’t defend Europe’s outer borders, it is not worth talking about how many people we can take in”.
The Hungarian parliament last week passed tough new legislation on illegal immigrants.
A 4m (13ft) fence along Hungary’s 175km (110-mile) border with Serbia was supposed to have been finished last month but remains largely incomplete. The delay was said to be behind the resignation on Monday of Defence Minister Csaba Hende.
Meanwhile, the influx of migrants shows no signs of abating. More boatloads arrived in the Greek islands on Monday, adding to an already desperate situation in some areas.
The UN’s refugee agency told the BBC that it was helping Greek authorities to process large numbers of Syrian refugees prior to an attempt to move 6,000 from the island of Lesvos to Athens.
There are between 17,000 and 25,000 migrants and refugees on Lesvos.
Credit: BBC
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