Merkel emphasizes "different points of view" when meeting with Orban

Chancellor Angela Merkel did not hide her differences with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. (Photo Filip Singer / EPA)

(dpa / afp) Hungary feels "not at all responsible for processing asylum applications", but insists that "unregistered refugees from all over the world" other countries, especially Greece, "said German Prime Minister Angela Merkel Thursday after a conversation with Orban in Berlin

Do not decouple from the fate of refugees

Germany and Hungary were in the protection of the EU's external borders and the fight against the leakage of an opinion, Merkel emphasized.In the course of the conversation, however, "different perspectives" appeared.For example, unlike the Hungarian Prime Minister , the German government believes that Europe can not simply "decouple" from the fate of refugees.Merkel said that it was important and fair that Hungary, as a foreign country Schengen, take the protection of the border, but the difference between Orbans and his position in refugee politics is that "we must always remember that it is about people who come to us. This has something to do with the fundamental attitude of Europe, and it means: humanity. "

Orban said that by protecting its southern border, Hungary takes Germany" an immense burden. "That is why it is" unfair that we are often accused of lack of solidarity. in Germany. "Otherwise, 4000 to 5000 refugees would come to Germany every day." This is solidarity, "said Orban .The fence of Hungary on the border with Serbia and Croatia is guarded 24 hours out of 24 by 8000 armed men, said Orban.It is now impossible to cross the border illegally.

First visit to Berlin in four years

This was Orban's first visit to the Federal Chancellor since May 2014. For a long time, Orban was considered in the EU as the most critical of Merkel's refugee policy.As a general rule, under the Dublin III Regulation, the EU country is responsible for the asylum application in which a person asks protection has been registered for the first time. However, there are exceptions, for example, when someone in a different state has family members.