border

Occasional scuffles broke out and one man was slightly hurt in a stampede. Some disheartened migrants, weary of waiting for transport to a registration center, tried to go back to Serbia but police blocked their way.

"We've been here for two days and the Hungarian government only brings one bus?" said a Syrian man, who gave only his first name, Ali.

The government said it is deploying troops as it tries to stem a surge of migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

Macedonian police spokesman Ivo Kotevski said both police and the army will control the 50-kilometer (30 mile) stretch of the border in order to stop a "massive" influx of migrants coming from Greece.

On the outskirts of the southern village of Asotthalom, soldiers on Monday were using heavy machinery to drive metal rods into the ground, the first steps in the construction of the nearly 4-meter (13-foot) high fence which the government wants to finish by Aug. 31.

More than 100,000 migrants have reached Hungary on routes across the Balkans so far in 2015. 

Defense Minister Csaba Hende said 900 people will be working to install the 4-meter (13 foot) high fence along the 175-kilometer (109-mile) border.

"The Hungarian defense force is ready to complete this task," Hende said near the southern town of Morahalom.

The Russian leader, whose approval ratings reached an all-time high this month despite a bruising recession, said a "powerful army equipped with modern weapons is the guarantor of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia."

Speaking at Thursday's Kremlin meeting with graduates of Russian military academies, Putin also vowed to continue a sweeping military modernization effort that envisions the purchase of large numbers of new weapons.