Orbán Breaks from European People’s Party

Years of hostility foreshadowed Fidesz’s ultimate withdrawal (Wikimedia Commons).

Hungary’s ruling Fidesz Party severed its ties with the European People’s Party (EPP) on March 3 following the passage of an amendment targeting the group, which is led by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

The new changes permit the EPP, the center-right umbrella group led by German Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Manfred Weber, to penalize entire factions rather than just individuals, a motion that Orbán saw as an affront to his party.

Fidesz has been suspended from the broader coalition since 2019 due to charges of democratic erosion in Hungary and anti-Brussels rhetoric from group leaders. However, this move targets the 11 Fidesz MEPs who continue to work closely with the party. The reforms come on the heels of sanctions against Fidesz MEP Tamas Deutsch, who sparked controversy by comparing the words of EPP Chairman Weber to Gestapo police slogans, in December 2020. 

Members both within the EPP and across party lines saw Orbán’s exodus as a preemptive signal to leave before his group’s inevitable expulsion. The Prime Minister labeled the 148-28 vote as “anti-democratic, unjust, and unacceptable.” 

Danian Ciolos, president of the centrist Renew Europe Group, embraced the move, proclaiming zero tolerance for the “toxic populism of Fidesz in mainstream Europe.” Finnish EPP MEP Petri Sarvamaa similarly labeled the departure as “a great relief and a historic day.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel, another member of the group, has been hesitant to discuss her opinion.

The EPP will remain the largest coalition despite Wednesday’s events, and the 12 Fidesz MEPs now face the choice of affiliating with either the Eurosceptic European Conservatives and Reformists group or the far-right Identity and Democracy Party.