Deutsch apologises again to EPP for critical remarks

Tamás Deutsch, an MEP of ruling Fidesz, has sent a letter to members of the European People’s Party apologising for his critical remarks about the conservative party family’s European Parliamentary group and its leader, saying he had no intention of offending them.

Earlier this month, Austrian EPP MEP Othmar Karas filed a motion for his political grouping to expel Deutsch from its EP group over comments he had made comparing the EPP and its group leader Manfred Weber’s support for the European Union’s rule of law mechanism to the Gestapo and Stalinist dictatorial methods.

According to Euronews, Deutsch told that “Weber’s comments were reminiscent of the Gestapo and (Hungary’s communist-era secret police) the ÁVH”.

“If you have nothing to hide, you don’t have to be afraid. I well remember that the Gestapo and the ÁVO [ÁVH] had the same motto,” Deutsch said. “That’s what they said. It’s like it was the historical experience of those living in Germany and Hungary at the time they had fears who had nothing to cover up.

“Manfred Weber is not telling the truth because there are subjective assessments of the rights of the European Union that are in line with current political opinions and disguised as his rights”.