The solution to Europe's migrant crisis is more border fences. That is the message from Hungary. The country is one of the loudest voices in the EU calling for stronger measures to stop the flow of people from the Middle East and North Africa. Budapest believes Balkan states like Macedonia must be fortified.

Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Foreign Minister:
"If Greece is not ready or able to protect the Schengen zone and doesn't accept any assistance from the European Union, then we need another defence line, which is obviously Macedonia and Bulgaria, so I hope that we will have some forward progress today. You know, it's kind of frustrating that everyone speaks about the necessity of the protection of the external borders but nothing happens and I think we have to stop that."

Hungary fenced off its borders in October, pushing over 400,000 migrants to pass through Slovenia. Almost all of them continued on their way to Austria and further north to Germany.

Today, the EU is calling for a unified response. Non-membersTurkey and Macedonia were invited to a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers to underline their role in the crisis.

Federica Mogherini, EU Foreign Policy Chief:
"We have to act united. The management of migration and refugees flows can unite us much more than it can divide and we will try to work in this
direction today with the countries that are facing similar challenges to those that are inside the European Union."

This week hundreds of migrants went foot along a major highway in Greece, heading north for Macedonia. They had been stranded for days due to protests on either side of the border. Last year more than 1 million people reached Europe's shores last year. Aid agencies say this year a similar number is expected.
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