Merkel welcomes Orban with the anti-migrant wind



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BERLIN : Angela Merkel and Viktor Orban are on Thursday, a few days after the German Chancellor made major political concessions to the hard-liners who adopted the anti-migrant stance of the Hungarian leader.

Orban, a populist gambler who has waged a campaign against European asylum policies fiercely defended by Merkel, could not resist gloating over his first invitation to Berlin in three years.

"The time has come that no one thought it possible whatever the circumstances: Angela Merkel asked for a meeting with Viktor Orban, and not the other way round," writes the daily Magyar Idok, who is close to the government. ; Orban.

"The first highly criticized Hungarian resistance", as well as the "persistent unity" of central European states against migrants, and a recent Austro-Italian-Bavarian "axis" on the politics of borders "have decisively turned the EU's debate on the issue of refugees in a different direction".

Merkel ended a tense confrontation with her conservative interior minister Horst Seehofer on Monday by agreeing to tighten border controls and set up closed "transit centers" to detain migrants. on the Austrian border

The rank of several weeks had threatened to overthrow his "grand coalition" government after only 100 days in power. The influential weekly Der Spiegel said Thursday that the hard-fought compromise marked an "orbanisation" of Angela Merkel's policy. "At the height of the refugee crisis (in 2015), Merkel and Orban led legendary wars in Brussels"

The Party of the Christian Social Union of Seehofer, in the state of Bavaria, is actively courting Orban during these years in an affront to Merkel. Spiegel said that she now seemed to recognize that EU hards could no longer be ignored or blocked.

'Moral imperialism & # 39;

Merkel's fatal decision in 2015 to leave the German border Opening up to those fleeing the conflict zones of the Middle East was mainly due to Orban's refusal to offer them a refuge, thus blocking the route of the Balkans to the EU

Orban opposed Merkel's moral imperialism while the Chancellor who grew up in Germany from the 39th Communist East, said she had seen enough walls in Europe for life.

Since then, far right parties have been sharing power in key countries like Italy and Austria. won almost 100 seats in the lower house of the Bundestag.

Merkel's tone with regard to Orban has also changed lately.

Last week she even thanked the Hungarian leader for his efforts to strengthen the EU's external borders, while Orban said "the huge success" of his firm stance in the conclusions of a European summit last week

. Merkel on Wednesday denied sacrificing European principles of open borders and compassion to qualified asylum seekers on the altar of power politics

Merkel, who said that the fate of Europe could be determined by the migration issue. the agreements it had drafted at the EU summit and within its own government were aimed at preventing the collapse of the asylum system.

"I understand that if you only talk about border security, border security, border security, people will say, you do not want to be sealed," she said.

"Of course, I've always wondered if what we're doing is right and important and I've always said, yes, it's important to stick to those principles, that's why I am happy to have found a solution "

However, the German solution depends on bilateral agreements with EU states to take back asylum seekers who had previously registered in their country.

Budapest has so far pushed back these openings. Seehofer must come to Vienna later on Thursday to discuss similar cooperation. – AFP

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