A council of “wise men” will be appointed to monitor the situation in Hungary over the coming period and it will evaluate the ruling Fidesz party’s policies, the European People’s Party’s group leader and spitzenkandidat Manfred Weber said in Brussels on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the EPP’s political assembly where Fidesz’s EPP membership was suspended, Weber said the council would be headed by former European Council president Herman Van Rompuy, with former European Parliament president Hans-Gert Poettering and former Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel also serving on the panel.

Weber said Fidesz’s potential expulsion from the centre-right bloc was not off the table.

He said it would take “a long time” to restore trust between the EPP and Fidesz.

In practice, the suspension of Fidesz’s EPP membership means that its members may not attend party meetings, propose candidates or shape the EPP’s policies, he added.

At Wednesday’s EPP political assembly, 190 delegates voted in favour of the compromise to suspend Fidesz’s membership in the grouping with three delegates voting against it.

Featured image: MTI

Source: MTI