Orban earns rare rebuke from bloc that has long backed him
Europe’s most important political family has penalised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban over concerns that he is leading his nation down an undemocratic path, suspending his party’s membership until further notice.
Yesterday’s move fell short of an outright expulsion, as had been sought by some within the centre-Right European People’s Party (EPP), and Orban painted it as a compromise that he himself had a role in shaping.
But it was still the strongest move against him from a political group that until now had done little to condemn his use of antiSemitic imagery, his steady erosion of democratic institutions, and his disdain for what Europe has often said are its core values.
Orban’s Fidesz party will be unable to attend or cast votes in EPP meetings, or propose candidates for posts. A committee will monitor his compliance with the EPP’s values.
But Orban will still lend his strength to the EPP instead of joining forces with other crusading far-Right politicians who are poised to storm the European Parliament after elections across the European Union in May.
‘‘We remain committed to European values, but we also don’t want migration,’’ Orban said at a news conference after the decision, during which he appeared to seek to defuse to situation while conceding little.
‘‘We want to continue to protect Christian values. We will continue to make that clear.’’
The decision to suspend Orban rather than expel him was a measure of his continued clout within the group despite concerns about his rule.
Without Fidesz lawmakers, the political family would no longer be the largest in the European Parliament, taking away its leading role within the legislature and diminishing its broader clout within EU institutions.
Orban has also benefited at home from EPP membership, with the group’s centrist image conferring a veneer of legitimacy on him even as he has moved increasingly aggressively against his opponents.
The EPP includes German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy.
After years of inflammatory actions from Orban, the final straw for many inside the EPP was his decision to target European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, alongside billionaire Hungarian-American financier and philanthropist George Soros, in a recent anti-EU advertising campaign in Hungary. – Washington Post