The EU has adopted a condescending tone in dealing with Eastern European countries on migration, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said in an interview with Die Welt am Sonntag.

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“A moralising tone has crept in with the Eastern Europeans, which is counterproductive because every state has its own pride,” Seehofer said.

He added that EU negotiations on the topic need to be more flexible.

“Countries will participate in other ways, such as sending more staff to the borders or giving money for joint border security. We should be more flexible and rely on flexible solidarity,” he said.

Seehofer, a member of Bavaria’s Christian Social Union and former state minister of Bavaria, has consistently been at odds with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over her refugee policies.

Seehofer insisted that the two managed to find a compromise. “All that is a thing of the past. Especially in the field of refugee policy, we have concluded a very good coalition agreement,” he said.

“In it we emphasize two principles: integration and limitation. Without limitation, integration will never succeed. Immigration without limitation overwhelms a country.”

Seehofer sparked controversy earlier this week when he told German newspaper Bild that Islam doesn’t belong in Germany.

“Nobody can seriously deny that Germany is historically and culturally Christian-Jewish and not Islamic-influenced. This is crucial for me when it comes to the question of what belongs to Germany,” Seehofer reiterated in the interview with Die Welt.