Orbán cabinet: Fidesz wants strong, united, anti-migration EPP

Fidesz wants a strong, united, Christian democratic European People’s Party that opposes migration, Gergely Gulyás, the head of the PM’s Office, said, adding that his party wants to remain in the center-right bloc as long as there is a chance of the EPP embracing these values.

Fidesz has always distanced itself from making personal attacks against people within its political family, Gulyás told MTI.

He noted that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will head Fidesz’s delegation to the EPP‘s political general assembly scheduled for Wednesday, where delegates are expected to vote on Fidesz’s future in the grouping.

“We would like to see fair and clear conditions,” Gulyás said. “We want to see a strong, united, Christian democratic EPP which opposes illegal immigration, and as long as there is hope and a good chance of this, we want to be a part of the EPP.”

He stressed, at the same time, Fidesz’s position that no compromise was possible when it came to opposing immigration and protecting Christian culture.

Asked about recent articles in conservative Hungarian media criticising EPP chairman Joseph Daul and group leader and spitzenkandidat Manfred Weber, Gulyás said that although there had been disagreements within the grouping, Fidesz had never gone to the lengths of personally criticising the head and top candidate of the EPP. The party will continue to abide by this principle in the future, too, he added.

Hungary observes the principle of press freedom, he said, adding that a significant number of Hungarian conservative journalists were critical of Fidesz’s EPP membership.

Asked about Weber’s recent proposal to set up an independent body to monitor member states’ adherence to the rule of law, Gulyás said Fidesz had been borne out of the fight for freedom and the rule of law against a dictatorship.

“So we consider the fundamental values of the democratic rule of law to be important,” he said.

The PM’s Office chief added, however, the observance of the rule of law in the EU was not monitored on the basis of objective assessment but was tied to political muckraking. “That’s why the rule of law is deteriorating in countries governed by anti-migration political forces but is in the best possible shape in countries governed by the pro-migration ones,” he said. The Hungarian government “has often spoken out against this double standard”, Gulyás noted, saying that there was “nothing wrong” with Hungary’s rule of law institutions.