Salah Abdeslam, who remains on the run from European authorities, is believed to have recruited a team in Hungary

A suspected ringleader of the deadly Paris attacks travelled to Hungary where he 'recruited a team' from unregistered migrants passing through the country, government officials say.

Salah Abdeslam, who remains on the run from European authorities, is believed to have visited Budapest's Keleti station, then left the country with the team he pulled together.

The development comes as evidence grows that ISIS jihadis are passing through Greece and the Balkans hidden among refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict.

Janos Lazar, the chief of staff to Hungary's prime minister, told reporters: 'I can confirm that one of the main organisers of the Paris terror attacks was in Budapest.'

Although he refused to name the man, or say if those he recruited in Hungary had participated in the Paris attacks, a government source later confirmed the recruiter in question was Abdeslam.

Mr Lazar also stated the migrants he was recruiting had refused to register with Hungarian authorities.

French sources revealed a car rented by Abdeslam was known to have been in Hungary on September 17.

The issue of Europe's external border security has come under intense scrutiny in the weeks following the Paris attacks after it was revealed several attackers reached the continent via Greece.

Fingerprint records showed two of the Stade de France suicide bombers entered via Greece.

According to faked passport papers they presented on arrival, they were M al-Mahmod and Ahmad al-Mohammad.

The pair bought ferry tickets together, while other reports suggested they were with a group as large as six.

Hungary remains one of the most vocal countries to oppose migration in Europe. It was a key transit country for people trekking along the so-called Balkan route to reach northern Europe, until it sealed its southern borders with Serbia using a 110mile-long razor-wire fence in October.

It has also closed border crossings with Croatia, which it claims is to 'protect the freedoms' of European citizens.

The blockade at the Hungary-Croatia border forced thousands of migrants to divert to Slovenia where the new arrivals are registered before 'most of them' are transferred to the Austrian border.

French special forces usher those caught up in the Paris attacks away from the Bataclan theatre on the evening of November 13

Police forensic teams search inside the Comptoir Voltaire cafe the morning after the deadly attacks in Paris

A man holds his head as he breaks down in tears at the tributes left outside Le Carillon bar, Paris, the day after the attack

According to papers presented on arrival, Paris bombers M al-Mahmod (right) and Ahmad al-Mohammad (left) entered Europe via Greece

Meanwhile, Belgian-born Abdeslam currently remains Europe's most wanted man after he was spirited away from Paris to Belgium immediately after the massacre by two men.

His possible presence in the capital Brussels caused a lockdown of the city for several days. Businesses, schools and the Metro were closed while thousands of armed soldiers and police officers patrolled city streets.

Abdeslam's brother Brahim blew himself up in a bar the night of the massacre which killed 130 people in a series of co-ordinated attacks across the city.

Abdeslam, 26, was also registered as having been in Austria on September 9 after being stopped in a routine traffic check.

He and two other men were stopped in a car with Belgian number plates after travelling south from Germany, not west from Hungary. Abdeslam told police he was 'on holiday'.

Hungary has been a vocal opponent to allowing migration into the EU. Pictured are migrants gathering at the country's border with Serbia - where he it has constructed a 110mile-long wall