BERLIN, July 5 (Xinhua) -- German chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has drawn attention to areas of disagreement between herself and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban with regards to a joint European asylum policy regime on Thursday.
Speaking at a press conference after a meeting with Orban in Berlin, Merkel explained that Hungary "did not feel responsible" for any asylum seekers who could soon be turned back at the German border because they first entered the European Union (EU) via another member of the Schengen free-travel zone.
Budapest instead held the view that other countries at the Schengen border, such as Greece, would have to take back and formally register these refugees.
Merkel said that, unlike Orban, the German government did not believe that Europe could simply "disconnect itself" from the plight of refugees by adopting stricter national migration policies.
Nevertheless, the chancellor emphasized that the German and Hungarian government were of the same view on the urgent need for enhanced protection of EU external borders and more comprehensive efforts to combat the root causes of refugee migration.
Hungary is among the members of the EU which have accepted the lowest number of asylum seekers and has been most steadfast in its opposition to any plans to achieve a more even distribution of related pressures in the bloc through refugee quotas.
Following his meeting with Merkel, Orban still argued that it was "unfair" to accuse Hungary of "lacking solidarity" because of the relatively small number of asylum seekers which it had accepted. According to the Hungarian prime minister, the border defense measures which Budapest had taken at its southern borders relieved Germany of an "enormous burden" during the European refugee crisis.
The meeting between Merkel and Orban on Thursday was the first one-on-one discussion of the two European leaders in over two years.
In response to a domestic cabinet crisis over the issue, the German chancellor has recently secured backing for the rough outlines of new EU asylum policy regime. Merkel has since warned that the survival of the EU now hinged on the successful implementation of the agreed measures.
