Merkel's Frenemies Give Stage to EU Critic of Her Refugee Policy

(Bloomberg) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed credit for shielding Germany from migration in a dig at Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose sister party gave him a platform to criticize her refugee policy.

Two days before talks on forming a new German government, Merkel's Bavarian allies hosted Orban in a reminder of her open-borders stance that provoked domestic and European rifts and has complicated her path to a fourth term. Orban is among eastern leaders who reject a Merkel-backed plan to resettle refugees across the European Union.

“We were organizing border protection at a time when other places in Europe were celebrating chaos and a breakdown of law and order,” Orban told reporters at a meeting of Bavaria's ruling Christian Social Union party at an Alpine hotel on Friday. “As I said two years ago, you can count on me as the captain of your border protection.”

Read more: Merkel's German Coalition Plan Faces an Increasingly Wary Public

Migration policy is on the agenda as Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, the CSU and the rival Social Democrats prepare to begin talks on Sunday on renewing their alliance for another four years. Bavaria was the main entry point during Germany's refugee crisis in 2015 and 2016, prompting months of public conflict between Merkel and the CSU.

‘People's Will'

Without naming Merkel, the Hungarian premier took up talking points championed by her foes such as the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, the first far-right party to win seats in the federal parliament since the 1950s. Europeans want public safety, secure borders and the removal of illegal residents, he said.

“2018 will be the year when the people's will is restored in Europe and the European people will force through decisions that reflect their interests,” Orban said.

Merkel has governed as acting chancellor since emerging victorious from an inconclusive national election in September. After the AfD took 12.6 percent of the vote and the CDU-CSU fell to its lowest share since 1949, she agreed to cap the number of refugees Germany accepts to 200,000 a year, marking a concession to the CSU.

Border Fence

Orban, who closed Hungary's frontier to refugees and put up a border fence, suggested that Merkel ignored public opinion by refusing to close Germany off.

“Many politicians in Europe didn't do what the people wanted,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Arne Delfs in Seeon, Germany at adelfs@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Tony Czuczka

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