Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban addresses supporters after the announcement of the partial results of parliamentary election in Budapest, Hungary, April 8, 2018. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

MUNICH (Reuters) - German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer on Monday welcomed the election victory of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and urged the European Union to drop what he called a “policy of arrogance and condencence” toward smaller members like Hungary.

Seehofer, a member of the CSU Bavarian conservative sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats and longtime backer of Orban, said the election results proved how much support Orban enjoyed among the Hungarian population.

He advised the EU to pursue more “reasonable” relations with Hungary and other smaller member states.

“I have always considered it wrong - this policy of arrogance and condescension in regard to individual member states,” Seehofer told reporters before a meeting of the CSU leadership.