Hungarian leader Orban, Italy's Salvini meeting in Budapest

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban talks to Chinese President Xi Jinping, not pictured, during a bilateral meeting of the Second Belt and Road Forum at the Great Hall of the People on Thursday, April 25, 2019 in Beijing, China. (Andrea Verdelli/Pool Photo via AP)

Italian deputy premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini attends the inauguration ceremony of a new police station in Corleone, Sicily, Italy, Thursday, April 25, 2019. As most Italian leaders are holding observances on Liberation Day, which celebrates the end of the country's fascist dictatorship during World War II, the Interior Minister didn't take part at any official celebrations. (Francesco Militello Mirto)

Hungary's prime minister will host Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini in a meeting between two of Europe's main opponents to immigration.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Salvini will meet Thursday afternoon at Orban's new office in Buda Castle.

In an interview published Wednesday in Italian newspaper La Stampa, Orban said Salvini was "the most important person in Europe today" on migration, which Orban called "the most important question history has confronted us with."

The membership of Orban's Fidesz party in the European People's Party, the biggest group in the European Parliament, was suspended in March over concerns about the rule of law in Hungary.

Orban has hinted at leaving the People's Party anyway after European Parliament elections at the end of May, another reason for possibly tightening ties with Salvi