Speaking outside the European Union headquarters in Brussels, he said: “I think we have a right to decide we do not want a large number of Muslim people in our country,” al-Jazeera reported.

“We can’t guarantee that you will be accepted,” Orban went on to say, while defending the decision to build a fence along its Serbian border.

The fence is one of several new initiatives designed to make it difficult for refugees to cross into Hungary. The others include tighter asylum laws, penalties for illegal entry and a plan to close permanent refugee camps.

“We Hungarians are full of fear,” Orban said.