The Hungarian Prime Minister has warned his Fidesz party could join another European Parliament bloc if the centre-right grouping does not line up with national interests. Mr Orban’s Fidesz were suspended from the EPP, the Parliament’s largest group, in March after complaints over the rule of law, media freedom and rights of minorities in Hungary. And the rift looks set to continue, with the Hungarian leader yet to commit to rejoining the bloc going forward.
He said: “We are members of the EPP right now and we will see which direction the EPP goes. Whether we can influence it and whether it is in line with the interests of Hungary and the Hungarian people.
“If yes, then we will stay, if not, we will sit in a new formation.”
Losing Fidesz’s MEPs will come as a significant blow to the EPP, who are forced to seek the support of least two other groups to obtain a majority after a poor performance in last week’s European elections.
Mr Orban refused to speculate where his MEPs could end up, but they will hand a significant boost to a minority group after winning more than 52 percent in Hungary, with an anti-immigration message.
But he has pledged to work with the Visegrad group – Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, to influence the appointment of the next European Commission president.
“We will have a unified stance in personnel issues,” he said.
Once again refusing to speculate on names, Mr Orban added: ‘We have such a candidate in mind, not just one.”
They Visegrad insist the Mr Juncker’s successor must hold “national feelings” and be “ready to defend” Christian culture across the EU.
EU leaders failed to agree on a sucessor at a summit in Brussels earlier this week, the process could run into next year because of the fragmented Parliament.
The EPP and Socialists and Democrats lost their overal joint majority for the first time in 40 years, leaving them unabe to dictate the Parliament’s agenda and direction.