AS much of Europe opens its doors to refugees, Viktor Orban is committed to locking them out.

The Hungarian Prime Minister is building a 109-mile long fence along his country’s border with Serbia in an effort to stop asylum seekers crossing into Hungary.

Orban’s right-wing Fidesz party has been far from welcoming to the crowds arriving daily and many have no intention of staying on, instead seeing Hungary as a necessary step in reaching a more sympathetic destination in which to claim sanctuary.

However, Hungary’s pro-government Magyar Idok newspaper suggests Orban, left, is increasingly frustrated by delays to the four-metre high barrier project.

It claims more workers will be assigned to the project following an unannounced inspection on Monday with his chief-of-staff Janos Lazar.

Defence minister Csaba Hende, who had been overseeing the construction, resigned following the visit.

WHY IS ORBAN BUILDING THE FENCE?

THE country’s Migration Office has received almost 158,000 asylum requests this year. Orban’s government aims to make his nation a less attractive destination to the destitute and new laws make it an offence to cross or damage the razor-wire border line.

The offence carries a penalty of up to three years in prison.

However, with many refugees still crawling under the sharp coils, Orban wants a stronger line of defence.

Originally supposed to be finished by August 31, the project has been beset with delays and no new completion date for the fence has been announced.

Meanwhile, Orban has hit out at European Union policy, blaming Germany in particular for bringing refugees to his doorstep, branding the crisis “a German problem”.

Restrictions on onwards travel saw thousands of people camped out at Keleti station in Budapest last week, unable to board trains for other nations despite many purchasing tickets to do so.

This resulted in a mass march to the Austrian border 100 miles away and although migrants were allowed to board cross-border services yesterday, many were segregated from other passengers and told they could only enter the last carriages.

ARE THERE SERVICES FOR REFUGEES IN HUNGARY?

HUNGARY’S unwelcoming stance and lack of economic opportunities means few wish to remain.

Refugee camps have been set up near main towns, but there have been a number of break-outs as those inside seek to avoid being processed in Hungary.

Under EU rules, doing so may make it harder for them to claim asylum elsewhere.

In one reported case, a young man from Iraq used acid to remove his fingerprints in an effort to avoid such a fate.

Hungary is also more likely to refuse applications and return refugees to their country of origin.

DOES ORBAN HAVE POPULAR SUPPORT?

A FORMER professional footballer with FC Felcsut, Orban is in his second term as prime minister.

His first term ran from 1998-2002 and he won the vote again in 2010.

While out of office he was regarded as a populist by political analysts and his second win was driven in part by disputes on the left side of Hungarian politics.

His Fidesz party was returned to power with its Christian Democrat allies in a result he claimed proved the public’s desire to “close the chapter of post-communism”.

The father-of-five has been dubbed “Viktator” by opponents who accuse him of imposing a conservative agenda on all aspects of society, including the media and religion. Accusations of corruption also followed, with tens of thousands of people protesting against Orban’s relationship with Russia.

The governments have worked together on a number of issues, with Orban hitting out at EU sanctions imposed on Russia as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.

Last year Hungarian authorities also approved a £8.3 billion deal with Russia to finance new reactors at a nuclear power station.

Orban’s authority also took a blow recently when his party lost two seats in by-elections.

One of these was taken by the far-right Jobbik party after it pursued voters from the centre ground.

Jobbik is expected to make further gains in the 2018 parliamentary elections and Orban’s uncompromising stance on immigration is part of efforts to retain a reputation for patriotism.

He recently suggested that immigration from overseas posed a threat to “Christian values” and could make Europeans “a minority in our own continent”.

DOES ORBAN HAVE SUPPORT FROM OTHER EUROPEAN LEADERS?

HUNGARY is a member of the Visegrad Four, an alliance with Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

The states joined the European Union at the same time and face similar economic and social problems.

While more prosperous Germany expects to receive around 800,000 refugees this year, the four allies say they can afford to accommodate far fewer.

Poland has agreed to accept around 2,000 people and in a statement, the Visegrad Four said they underlined “their full support to Hungary” in tackling the refugee “challenge”.

The countries are calling on the EU to allow each member state to avoid mandatory and permanent quotas for accepting refugees, calling such an outcome “unacceptable”.