The European parliamentary group of the European People’s Party voted to admit the Hungarian opposition Party of Respect and Freedom (Tisza) into its EP group at a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday. MEPs of the EPP voted, with 97% in favour, to allow the seven candidates from Tisza’s list who have been elected to the EP — Péter Magyar, Dóra Dávid, Zoltán Tarr, András Kulja, Eszter Lakos, Gabriella Gerzsenyi and Kinga Kollár — to join their group.
In addition to Tisza’s MEPs, the centre-right grouping also voted in favour of admitting seven other MEPs into the group. According to the EPP’s statement, the admission of the new members will allow the group to consolidate its position „as by far the strongest political Group in the European Parliament”.
It also said that the newly admitted MEPs have joined the EPP Political Group, but their parties have not joined the EPP Party, noting that decisions regarding Group and Party membership were independent of each other. According to the latest update from the European Parliament, the EPP will have 190 MEPs, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats 136, Renew Europe 80, the European Conservatives and Reformists 76, the Identity and Democracy group 58, the Greens 52 and the Left will have 39 MEPs. There are a total of 89 independent or new MEPs, the latter of whom can still join a party group after the formation of the new EP.