PM Orbán visits the CSU
January 9th, 2018A left-wing commentator lambasts Horst Seehofer, leader of the CSU for calling Hungarian Prime Minister a democrat. A pro-government pundit, on the other hand, hopes that Bavaria will join the coalition of the Visegrád countries and help Europe return to its core national and religious values.
Last Friday, Prime Minister Orbán met the parliamentary group of the Christian Social Union outside Munich. CSU leader Horst Seehofer underscored the importance of the strategic alliance between Germany and the Visegrád countries. He also said that Viktor Orbán is committed to democratic values. After the meeting, PM Orbán said that Europe’s borders must be defended to stop illegal immigration and reduce terrorist threats.
Népszava’s Róbert Friss finds Mr Seehofer’s comments on Viktor Orbán’s politics mistaken and highly disturbing. The left-wing columnist accuses Mr. Seehofer of whitewashing the Hungarian Prime Minster, who in his opinion is weakening democracy. Friss adds that the proposal concerning the closer cooperation of Central European states including the Visegrád countries with Bavaria, does not make sense at all in a unified European Union. He thinks that by inviting PM Orbán, Mr. Seehofer had no other intention than to annoy Chancellor Angela Merkel and Social Democrat leader Martin Schulz, her partner in negotiating a future grand coalition.
In Magyar Hírlap, Sándor Faggyas interprets Mr. Seehofer’s statements as signaling that the Hungarian government’s vision of Europe is becoming mainstream. The pro-government commentator hopes that the Visegrád countries can indeed strengthen their ties with the state of Bavaria and “create a counterweight to the increasingly post-Christian, post-national and multicultural Western Europe”. If such cooperation is successful, Central Europe can become the most important region in Europe, Faggyas imagines.