Orban: 'No moral imperialism'

Viktor Orban, known for his tough stance on migrants, said on Wednesday: "The Southern borders of Bavaria are being protected by Hungary." In his opinion, the most important thing in the migrant crisis was "that there should be no moral imperialism."

Ahead of the EU leaders' summit later on Wednesday, the Hungarian prime minister (photo, left) visited the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU). CSU-leader Horst Seehofer (photo, right) welcomed Orban at his party's annual autumn meeting at the Banz monastery in Bad Staffelstein.

"We'd accept Germany either allowing all migrants in or not allowing any in. But whatever Germany decides should only apply to Germany," Orban said. His country had a "democratic right" to a different approach in the migrant crisis.

'We should involve the whole world'

Orban strongly opposes European quotas for the distribution of refugees. On Wednesday, he said: "We should involve the whole world in the handling of this refugee crisis". Worldwide quotas would be among the proposals he was planning to present to fellow EU leaders at the summit in Brussels, he added.

Hungary built a fence at its border with Serbia and is extending it to the border with Croatia to prevent migrants from entering. Orban's government has also passed legislation allowing prison terms for people who cross the border illegally. Last week, migrants were kept from crossing the border by police using water cannon and tear gas.

German opposition members criticized the CSU for inviting Orban to their meeting in Bavaria. Markus Rinderspacher, head of the Social Democrats (SPD) in the Bavarian state parliament, said that CSU-leader and Bavarian state premier Horst Seehofer was seeking the proximity of "a populist firestarter," instead of being on the side of Christian charity. In Rinderspacher's opinion, Orban does not deserve to be "flattered" by such an invitation by Bavaria's democratic politicians. The CSU in Bavaria has been perhaps the most criticial group of German politicians - discounting parties further to the right not represented in the national parliament - with regards to Berlin's approach to the refugees.

Opposition politicians and other citizens gathered outside of the venue in Bad Staffelstein, holding placards and blowing whistles to protest against Orban's visit in Bavaria.

das/msh (dpa, AFP, KNA, Reuters)