Orbán’s Fidesz resigns EPP after MEPs vote on new suspension rules

The Hungarian right-wing party Fidesz has resigned its membership in the European People’s Party group in the European Parliament, over an intra-party vote on suspending errant member parties.

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán informed Manfred Weber, the chairman of the centre-right EPP group in the EP, in a letter shortly after the vote was taken.

“The amendments to the rules of the EPP Group are clearly a hostile move against Fidesz and our voters. Limiting our MEPs’ ability to carry out their duties as elected Members of the European Parliament deprives Hungarian voters from their democratic rights. This is antidemocratic, unjust and unacceptable. Therefore, the governing body of Fidesz has decided to leave the EPP Group immediately,” Orbán told the German MEP.

“Our MEPs will continue to speak for whom they represent, our voters, and defend the best interest of the Hungarian people.”

The EPP voted on Wednesday on new rules for suspending member parties – despite threats from Orbán that his Fidesz party would quit the group if the vote used to take place.

The MEPs voted to modify the rules of procedure of the parliamentary group in order to allow the suspension of the activities of a member party.

The vote took place with 180 votes cast, 148 voted for this rule, 28 against, and four abstentions. The decision to rewrite internal rules was part of an effort to align the status of these MEPs with the suspension of Fidesz from the party family, also called EPP, since 2019.

Originally that suspension had little effect on the positions of the 12 Fidesz MEPs within the parliamentary group. After the introduction of these new rules, the MEPs were expected to vote on the suspension of the activities of Fidesz MEPs, within a week or two. A simple majority would have decided that Fidesz MEPs could no longer speak or act on behalf of the EPP.

Malta’s Nationalist MEPs voted in favour of the new rules. “While different views on different issues are a welcome part of Parliamentary life, the EPP is Group is a family of shared values – that is our common denominator – and while we have tried on many occasions to try to bridge the gap that exists between the EPP and Fidesz, it was clear that their Party has been on a different path away from the values that unites our Group for some time and therefore today’s decision is not a surprise. Values matter,” EP vice-president Roberta Metsola and David Casa said.

“The EPP is united and remains the strongest political force in the European Parliament – with over 80% of MEPs, including the PN delegation, voting to amend the rules of procedure. We will keep speaking out for the protection of the rule of law everywhere in our EU as we have always done in Hungary and beyond.”

The rewriting of internal rules had been underway since December, when the head of the Fidesz delegation, MEP Tamas Deutsch, was suspended after comparing Weber’s words to the slogans of the Nazi Gestapo and the Hungarian secret police of the communist era.

The EPP has also struggled with Orbán, whose government and party have challenged EU values ​​and remain locked in a dispute with several EU institutions.

Orbán has not been invited to EPP party family reunions since the party’s suspension.

Fidesz’s departure will not change the dynamics of MEPs, leaving the EPP the larger political family.

A Fidesz MEP, Livia Jaroka, is one of the vice-presidents of the parliament, and several others are vice-presidents of different committees.