PM Orbán invites AfD’s Weidel to meet in Budapest right before German elections

“The AfD could receive 20 percent of the vote. If their boss wants to speak to me, why should I say no?”

By Remix News Staff
5 Min Read

Alice Weidel is headed to Hungary next week, as confirmed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in a wide-ranging interview with Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ).

“I will receive them in Budapest next week,” Orbán told NZZ.

In addition, he took to X to write, “Looking forward to your visit Alice Weidel. Berlin has always been a city of walls. It’s time to tear another one down.”

During the NZZ interview when he was asked about whether he thought there were any “crazy people” in the AfD, Orbán responded: “I can read (laughs). There are statements that are simply not part of political culture in the 21st Century. But I myself led movements in the fight against the communist regime in Hungary. Crazy people have also appeared there. Institutionalizing politics in a party makes it more boring but predictable.”

When asked how a “political system should deal with such a party,” the Hungarian prime minister further responded: “We don’t know a firewall in Hungary. When a party receives votes, we take them seriously. That doesn’t mean we’re working with her. But we sit down and discuss. A firewall makes political thinking primitive. Alice Weidel called me and asked for a meeting. I will receive them in Budapest next week. The AfD could receive 20 percent of the vote. If their boss wants to speak to me, why should I say no? If Olaf Scholz called me, I would also receive him. But there is no serious danger this will happen (laughs).”

Although Weidel’s visit was only one point in the interview that covered many topics, it was one of the most surprising bits of information, as Orbán has always kept an arm’s length distance from the AfD over the years despite their broadly similar policies.

In fact, in one interview, Orbán said that pressure from Germany, which is Hungary’s biggest business partner, was one of the main reasons his Fidesz party never made overtures to the AfD party. Notably, at events like CPAC Hungary, there was barely any German representation, and the AfD was not invited.

However, in other interviews with German media, Orbán stated that he is not entirely sure what the AfD stood for either.

When asked by Bild about contacts with the AfD, Orbán replied: “We have very few, but we have contacts of all democratically elected parties of Germany. The reason why we don’t have stronger cooperation with AfD is that we don’t know exactly what the AfD is about. So it’s not clear-cut what their program is. Is it pro-European or against it? So it’s not easy to understand. But anyway, it’s not our job, because we have to deal with the Hungarian parties and Hungarian issues. It’s your party, may I say.”

He was then asked: “Would you invite the head of AfD to Budapest?”

To which, Orbán responded: “There is no reason to do that. But this party is a democratically elected party. It’s a German party.”

When asked whether the party is fascist, Orbán also responded: “I would never say any democratically elected German party is fascist. It’s your choice. It’s not my job. Don’t provoke me into that discussion – no, no way.”

However, with elections approaching, Orbán may sense that a change of power is underway in Germany, and he may now be willing to open up relations to the AfD, which is now polling consistently above 20 percent.

For Weidel, being received by Orbán will allow her to demonstrate that her party is not isolated from the conservative mainstream in Europe. It also underscores the dramatic shifts taking place as left-liberal governments increasingly look precarious across the Western world, especially since Trump stormed to power after the November elections.

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