The leaders of the European People’s Party (EPP) agreed on Monday with EPP President Donald Tusk’s decision to extend the suspension of the Hungarian Fidesz party membership over flouting democratic standards and anti-Brussels rhetoric.
“The opinion of the majority of our political family is quite clear: there is no sufficient progress in Budapest, there are no visible changes when it comes to democratic standards, rule of law and freedom of speech,” said Tusk during EPP’s leadership meeting.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban‘s ruling Fidesz party was suspended from the European People’s Party (EPP) last March and an evaluation committee was tasked by EPP, to make a suggestion regarding the Hungarian party’s future.
The committee, led by former EU council chief Herman Van Rompuy, along with Wolfgang Schüssel and Hans-Gert Pöttering, had different views on the future of Fidesz party, with the three “wise men” examining whether to suspend Fidesz, deprive it of voting rights within the EPP, or to offer the prospect of Fidesz re-gaining an active membership.
With the future of Fidesz party in the EPP remaining uknown, EPP decided to organise a Congress for 2021 to “deeply reflect” on the future of the political group, the values it upholds and “a new political vision”.