Budapest (AFP) - Macedonia's foreign minister said Thursday his country may follow Hungary's example and build a border fence to stem the influx of migrants and refugees trekking through the Balkans to reach western Europe.

"We too will need some kind of physical defence to reduce illegal border crossing... Either soldiers or a fence or a combination of the two," Nikola Poposki was quoted as saying in an interview with Hungarian business weekly Figyelo.

He said his country was currently forced to let the 3,000 to 4,000 migrants who arrive in his country on a daily basis continue their journey to Serbia and Hungary unimpeded.

"There is no European consensus on how we can handle this question," he stressed.

Along with neighbouring Serbia, Macedonia has become a major transit country for tens of thousands of migrants who trudge up from Greece, after risking their lives crossing the Mediterranean crammed into makeshift boats.

The majority are heading for Germany, which has pledged to welcome hundreds of thousands more refugees having already taken in 450,000 to date since January.

So far, more than 160,000 have already crossed through Macedonia on their way to Serbia and Hungary this year.

Last month, the small Balkan nation declared a state of emergency as it struggled to cope with the relentless stream of people.

Hungary completed a razor-wire barrier along its 175-kilometre (110-mile) border with Serbia in late August, but it has failed to stop anyone crossing into the country.

However, it is also building a fence four metres (12 feet) high that it aims to complete by late October or early November, and the government has said it will be manned by the military.

Some 85 percent of those hoping to eventually reach wealthy EU nations like Germany or Sweden are not merely in search of a better life, but have been forced to leave because of wars in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, according to the UN's refugee agency.