Kohl and Orbán deny attempting to undermine Merkel

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has insisted that a visit with ex-chancellor Helmut Kohl yesterday was not part of a joint effort to undermine the authority of German leader Angela Merkel.

The Hungarian leader has been the most vocal critic of the German chancellor’s migration strategy, while Dr Kohl has in recent weeks criticised unilateral action during the crisis.

After a “private, friendly” meeting in the home of the former chancellor, the two men criticised the “unnecessary excitement” in the media ahead of their appointment.

“The Hungarian-German friendship is something special, Helmut Kohl is a symbol for this and he should not be brought into this debate,” said Mr Orbán.

Despite poor health, Dr Kohl has found own his way back into the European migration debate through a Hungarian edition of his 2014 book, Out of Concern for Europe. In a new foreward, he criticises national decisions made at EU expense, "no matter how well-founded they may seem to individuals".

Many have seen in that remark a swipe at last September’s decision by Dr Merkel to allow into Germany Syrian asylum seekers trapped in Hungary – a move not co-ordinated with other EU capitals.

No contradiction

Though neither man has any love lost for Dr Merkel, they insisted there was no contradiction in their migration suggestions and those of the Berlin leader. But they said that solutions to the crisis “have to be found beyond Europe”.

“Europe has to act, knowing that it cannot be the new home for millions of people in need,” they said in a joint statement.

While Dr Merkel has pushed for EU refugee distribution measures and an asylum-swap deal with Turkey, Budapest’s response to the crisis – razor wire and political protests – prompted a demonstration against Mr Orbán outside Dr Kohl’s home in the western German city of Ludwigshafen.

The two men have known each other since 1989 when Hungary acted first to open its border to the west, the first gap in the Iron Curtain. In 2000, Mr Orbán presented the ex-leader with a medal in Budapest.

Speaking in Berlin, Dr Merkel said she viewed the meeting as “sensible” because, from what she had heard, the men had discussed measures she considered “absolutely essential and important”.