Former Chancellor Kohl to meet with Hungarian PM

The meeting will take place on Tuesday at Helmut Kohl's home in western Germany.

Once a mentor to Angela Merkel, the 86-year-old former chancellor has since had a falling out with his protege, who has alienated many in her country and around Europe with her asylum policies.

On Sunday Kohl, a staunch critic of Merkel, published an editorial in the German newspaper Tagesspiegel am Sonntag in which he delivered a veiled criticism of her policies.

Criticism of Merkel

"The solution lies in the affected regions," he wrote. "It does not lie in Europe. Europe cannot become a new home for millions of people in need around the world."

His meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, one of the most vocal Merkel critics outside of Germany, has been interpreted by some as a slap in Merkel's face. Kohl's allies have denied the suggestion, however.

Kohl also wrote a special introduction to the Hungarian edition of his autobiography that contained implicit criticism of Merkel, saying that "lonely decisions" made by states that don't take into account the interests of their allies "must be consigned to the past."

blc/jil (dpa, AFP)