Orbán’s Fidesz not concerned about calls for expulsion from EPP
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Government spokesman Zoltán Kovács on Monday rejected calls for Hungary’s ruling Fidesz to be expelled from the European People’s Party, according to Austrian news agency APA.
Speaking to Austrian media in Vienna, Kovács said his party was not concerned about such calls, saying that Fidesz was arguably the EPP’s strongest member considering the support it has at home.
Kovács said there had been no talk about Fidesz’s potential expulsion from the political family at the EPP’s congress in Helsinki last week.
“The exact opposite was the case,” the government spokesman said, noting that at the event, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán backed Germany’s Manfred Weber as the EPP’s nominee for European Commission president.
At the congress, Fidesz argued for “common sense” solutions and expressed its readiness to share its experiences, Kovács said. He said the EPP’s liberal wing which has been critical of Fidesz and is “partly urging the ruling party’s expulsion” would fail because of its “unrealistic views”.
On the topic of the potential outcome of the Article 7 procedure launched against Hungary, Kovács said it was a “political, not a legal procedure”.
“The whole thing is a question of political taste and therefore a witch hunt.”