Fidesz MEP: EPP is getting weaker

The European People’s Party (EPP) is getting weaker because it is losing its character, Balazs Hidveghi, an MEP of ruling Fidesz, said on Monday, adding that this was also true for “many of the grouping’s member parties”.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish the EPP from the Liberals, the Socialists or the Greens on many issues,” Hidvéghi told public Kossuth Radio.

He said this view was demonstrated well by a letter addressed to Fidesz by Radoslaw Sikorski, a Polish MEP and former foreign minister, in which the politician had applied “arguments and terms used generally by left-liberal pro-immigrant” political players.

“The most important issue at the moment is to tackle the coronavirus epidemic,” Hidvéghi said, adding that “ideological debates such as the one concerning the EPP should be addressed at a later time.”

“We are surprised to see that European politicians have the time and the energy these days to focus on an issue like this instead of helping to ensure a more effective protection against the virus in a more credible way,” he said.

“By pressing for the expulsion of Fidesz from the EPP, party leader Donald Tusk is making the grouping weaker on the whole,” Hidvéghi said, making reference to a recent call by 13 EPP members for the expulsion of Hungary’s ruling party led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

• Fidesz, ChristDem MEPs write open letter to EPP president Tusk
• Coronavirus – Orbán sends letter to EPP

Source: MTI