Germany's foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said he does not share a view expressed by his Luxembourg counterpart that Hungary should be excluded from the European Union because of its tough anti-migrant policies.
"This is not an agreed position in Europe," Steinmeier said. "I can understand, looking at Hungary, that some in Europe are getting impatient... however, it is not my personal approach to show a European member state the door," he added.
Meanwhile, Czech president Milos Zeman and Bohuslav Sobotka, the country’s prime minister, have both condemned the comments.
A spokesman for Milos Zeman, the president of the Czech Republic, said that the statements made by the Luxembourg foreign minister cause “extraordinary damage” to the European Union and the project of European integration.
These sentiments were echoed by Bohuslav Sobotka, the country's prime minister, who said that a “rational attitude” has to be adopted in the debate on the future of the EU in order to form unity.
Asselborn’s statements fall into the “category of nonsense” and amount to political trench-digging, he said, while making clear that he rejects the exclusion of Hungary from the European Union.