The situation of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party and its position in the European People’s Party can be resolved, Antonio Tajani, the former president of the European Parliament, said in an interview to the Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet. Tajani said his Forza Italia party backed Fidesz, adding that it was important Fidesz remained an EPP member. Tajani said it was “unfair” of the EP to question the rule of law in Hungary when it had shown “greater leniency towards Malta, ruled by a leftist government”.
Meanwhile, the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) has said it would be in the Hungarian national interest for the European People’s Party (EPP) to exclude the ruling Fidesz party from its ranks. At a press conference, DK spokesman Balázs Barkóczi noted today’s vote in the European Parliament to pass a resolution on the rule of law against Hungary and Poland. He said it was now clear to Europeans that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had ignored the Sargentini report and was “jumping up and down on the ruins of Hungarian democracy”. A large majority of EPP representatives had approved the EP motion, he said, adding that Thursday’s vote showed that Orbán had “lost his last allies”, and the expulsion of Fidesz from EPP was now within reach.