RAB, Croatia -- Following a bevy of measures and countermeasures implemented by both Serbia and Croatia, stemming from the two countries' inability to reach an agreement on how best to handle the recent immigrant surge, the citizens of both countries are starting to feel direct consequences.
After Croatia closed all its border crossings with Serbia except one, Serbia banned imports of Croatian goods in protest.
The closure has cut Serbia off from its main trading partners in Europe and is crippling the economy, costing both nations as much as €1 million euros ($1.1 million) a day.
On Wednesday, Croatia started stopping vehicles with Serbian license plates to the country, officially due to a "software error," though Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović later said the measure was intentional.
In a televised address to the nation Thursday, Milanović explained his view on the matter, blaming Serbia for sending the majority of migrants to one or two border crossings in Croatia, and not sending any to Hungary.
"Serbia has a deal with Budapest, but that is not our deal," he said.
Milanović said Croatia was ready to open the borders with Serbia on Thursday, but has now reversed that stance after Serbia's blockade of Croatian goods.
"Serbia can stop this today, if it wants to," said Milanović.
Serbia's foreign ministry, in a strongly-worded protest note to Croatia, called the latest measures "discriminatory" against Serbian nationals and compared them to the actions of the Nazi puppet regime in Croatia during World War II.
Meanwhile, hundreds of trucks are stranded on both sides of the border. Al Jazeera reports that more than 700 Croatian trucks have been waiting for days at the Bajakovo-Batrovci border crossing.
On the other hand, Serbian media report on the many dissatisfied Serbian nationals who have been barred from crossing the border to the Croatian side. According to Kurir, all departures toward Croatia at Belgrade's central bus station have been canceled, as the only way to enter Croatia with a Serbian passport is currently on foot.
Hundreds of refugees waiting next to a cemetery in the no-mans-land on the Serbia Croatia border #refugeecrisis pic.twitter.com/ufF4bwdalP— Rebecca Collard (@rebeccacollard) September 24, 2015
The tensions between two countries started rising two weeks ago, after Hungary closed its border crossings with Serbia and Serbia started redirecting refugees to its borders with Croatia.
Some 47,000 migrants have entered the country since then, though most have already left towards Austria and Germany through Hungary and Slovenia.
Associated Press contributed reporting.