Merkel's Frenemies Give Stage to EU Critic of Her Refugee Policy
- Hungarian leader Orban given stage by Bavarian sister party
- German chancellor will wrestle with issue in coalition talks
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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.