Manfred Weber red-faced for 'final solution' gaffe

Manfred Weber, a top figure in Germany's Christian Social Union (CSU) party and the leader of the center-right EPP group in the European Parliament, caused a stir with his choice of words during Friday's party conference in the southern Bavarian town of Seeon-Seebruck.

Addressing asylum policy, as the most senior European politician in the CSU, Weber said that the key EU effort in 2018 would be finding a "final solution (finale Lösung in German) to the migrant question."

Weber's choice of words was not an exact match, but still evoked Nazi Germany's "final solution (Endlösung) to the Jewish question," its most common euphemism for the mass-extermination that later became known as the Holocaust.

Read more: Germany's CSU returns to far-right political battleground

Following a storm of criticism online, Weber took to Twitter to dismiss any notion of Nazi discourse in his speech. "Let's be clear: the intentional misinterpretation of my statement here is complete nonsense and was not in the least bit intended on my part," he said. "On the contrary, it is about the necessity for a collective European solution in 2018 designed to help people in need."

Dialogue with the east

Weber's remarks came at the sidelines of a visit to Seeon-Seebruck by Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban. 

The Hungarian leader has been one of the most vocal critics of Europe's migrant rescue plan and has so far refused to accept a single refugee as part of a pan-EU quota program.

Read more: Poland, Hungary say EU migration policy has failed

Despite Orban's visit provoking heavy criticism from within some corners of the Bavarian CSU, Weber stressed that it was crucial to open dialogue with Hungary and other European nations. "We need legislative answers at the European level. And it needs to be a European solution, because only then can we permanently avoid border checks on this continent," he told local broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Seehofer challenging Brussels and Merkel?

Similarly accommodating to Orban was CSU leader Horst Seehofer, who said he plans to launch a "central European alliance" because Germany's eastern neighbors were bigger trading partners for Bavaria than France or Britain.

Bavaria's conservative governor also praised Orban for "without a doubt standing upon ground made up of the rule of law."

However, Seehofer's remarks could raise concerns in Brussels; the European Commission is currently suing Hungary, along with Poland and the Czech Republic, for refusing to accept their share of refugees due for resettlement. 

The comments also put the CSU chief at odds with his Christian Democratic ally, German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Since the 2015 migrant crisis, the two party leaders have argued repeatedly over the number of refugees that should be allowed to settle in Germany.

Merkel appears to have conceded to CSU demands to impose an annual limit on the number of asylum seekers settling in Germany of 200,000. However, the chancellor has stressed that the figure is not set in stone.