Socialists fighting for more solidarity in Europe, says Hungarian party leader

The Socialist Party is fighting alongside the “pro-European” forces for more solidarity in Europe, party leader Bertalan Tóth told a press conference he held jointly with Katarina Barley, justice minister and the top candidate of Germany’s SDP party, in Budapest on Monday.

The Socialist Party’s platform — similarly to that of the German Social Democrats — is about “a social Europe and social achievements”, Tóth said.

Both parties support the joint regulation of the European minimum wage and pension, deepening European integration and both want to ensure that EU funds are spent on improving education, health care and environmental protection, he said.

Tóth said

the Socialist Party and the SDP have launched a joint campaign to encourage Hungarians living in Germany to vote in the European parliamentary elections. Hungarians living there have until May 17 to register to vote, he added.

He said that while Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán “has fewer and fewer friends”, the Socialist Party was expanding its circle of friends, noting that Frans Timmermans, spitzenkandidat of the European Socialists and Democrats, attended the party’s congress last month.

Barley said the SDP was working to extend social rights to everyone and strengthen the rule of law in the EU. They also want member states to cooperate with one another on the basis of mutual trust, she added.

Source: MTI