Hungarian leader Orbán to meet with Germany’s AfD

The co-leader of the hard-right German party Alternative for Germany (AfD) will meet Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán today, a sign both of AfD’s growing acceptance and of Orbán’s willingness to snub European norms.

This month’s election is expected to see the AfD become the second-biggest party in the Bundestag: There is a longstanding agreement among mainstream German parties to maintain a “firewall” around it, but rising anti-refugee sentiment and the AfD’s increasing popularity has weakened the wall.

A European Union leader inviting the AfD to a meeting is a further sign of cracks, although even Orbán has said there are “crazy people” in the party, and that associating with it could strain ties with other European leaders.