According to Hungarian media reports, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban wants to negotiate his party’s FIDESZ exit from the European People’s Party (EPP). The aim is for FIDESZ to remain part of the EPP Group in the EU Parliament as an autonomous group. The Hungarian daily newspaper „Nepszava“ (Tuesday edition), which is close to the opposition, reported that Orban had proposed this to the EPP parliamentary group leader Manfred Weber in a letter.
A spokesman for the EPP group in Brussels has confirmed the receipt and content of this letter, reported the independent Hungarian Internet newspaper Telex.hu. There was initially no confirmation from the Hungarian government.
„Differences in perspectives and values“
The EPP group spokesman Pedro Lopez de Pablo said that this matter should not be decided by the EPP group but by the EPP as a whole, Telex.hu reported. In the letter to Weber, Orban emphasized that there are „differences in views and values“ between FIDESZ and EPP. A new form of cooperation is about „avoiding communication problems“, wrote „Nepszava“.
FIDESZ’s EPP membership has been on hold since 2019 because Orban’s handling of democracy and the rule of law met with criticism there. A “Council of Wise Men” of the EPP is investigating whether the FIDESZ’s policy is still compatible with the values of the party association. The umbrella organization unites the European Christian Democrats, including the ÖVP.
Under Orban’s government, Hungary is in constant dispute with the EU. Hungary and Poland currently want to block important EU budget decisions, including the billion-dollar CoV economic aid, because the EU wants to link the distribution of money to intact rule of law.
