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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party faces yet another test of whether it can maintain its place in the European Parliament’s biggest political group. And yet again, it looks likely to cling on — for now.
Senior members of the European People’s Party are set to decide Wednesday whether to hold a vote on potentially expelling the head of Hungary’s Fidesz delegation in Parliament, Tamás Deutsch, after he compared comments made by EPP group leader Manfred Weber to the slogans of the Gestapo and Hungary’s communist-era secret police.
Deutsch’s remarks were the latest in a string of clashes between Fidesz and other EPP members, culminating in the group’s suspension from party ranks last year. If a vote is held and Deutsch is expelled, it could prompt the rest of Fidesz’s 12 MEPs to walk away from the EPP as well.
But despite the continued conflicts, among Germany’s Christian Democrats (CDU) delegation — the EPP’s largest and most powerful group of MEPs and the sister party of Weber’s Bavarian CSU — there is still reluctance to cast Fidesz out.
Deutsch apologized Tuesday to Weber and “all other colleagues” in an email to EPP members seen by POLITICO.
“It was a mistake on my part, for which I am sorry,” Deutsch said in the email. “Also, I take back the unfortunate comparison I used. I hope that we can cool tensions and continue our work together for the betterment of our common European Union in a moment of crisis when unity is more needed than ever.”
On Tuesday, after the apology was sent, some of the CDU’s most senior members showed no signs that they were ready to sanction the governing Hungarian party, at least not immediately.
“I’m advocating that there be an intense debate on Wednesday and that we then use the Christmas season to reflect and make a decision in the new year,” said Daniel Caspary, the head of the CDU delegation.
Last month, Deutsch told Hungarian television that the Gestapo and the AVO, Hungary’s secret police during the communist era, had the “same slogan” as Weber’s prior comments that “if you have nothing to hide, you don’t have to be afraid.” Weber was speaking about plans to link EU funding to rule of law standards, which Hungary had opposed.
Deutsch’s criticism prompted almost 40 MEPs, led by Austrian MEP Othmar Karas and mainly from northern EU countries, to make a formal request to expel him from the EPP group. They argued that his comments were a “blatant and intolerable distortion of historic facts,” and that the Hungarian MEP “must no longer undermine the EPP group credibility.”
Expelling Deutsch would require a two-thirds majority of votes cast, according to group rules. Officials say this is unlikely within the 187-member group. Twenty-nine German MEPs and nearly 30 Spanish, Italian and French MEPs have defended Fidesz and Orbán despite accusations that Hungary is backsliding on rule of law standards. On Tuesday, Hungary faced further international criticism from LGBT rights advocates and others after its parliament passed amendments that would prevent same-sex couples from adopting children, and make it more difficult for single parents to adopt.
Insiders say expelling Deutsch has greater implications for Germany beyond the Parliament, with Chancellor Angela Merkel likely reluctant to sideline Orbán after reaching a compromise with Hungary and Poland on linking EU payments to respect for the rule of law so EU leaders could pass an historic €1.8 trillion budget-and-recovery package last week.
Some officials say Caspary may try to delay any vote on Deutsch’s exclusion, and his colleagues would be inclined to follow the party line.
“Most German EPPs will not change their position … while Merkel would postpone [the vote] until eternity,” one German MEP said. Caspary has denied receiving instructions from Merkel on Deutsch.
One EPP insider said that “if the CDU expels Fidesz, Orbán will take it personally and will declare a war to German economical interests in Hungary … For Merkel, expelling Fidesz is not a party decision, it is a state decision.”
Still, since the vote would be carried out by secret ballot, there’s a chance German MEPs could feel they have some wiggle room, especially those within the CDU and CSU who say they have grown tired of Fidesz’s repeated provocations. Several officials said Weber himself is feeling fed up with Fidesz and told an internal EPP group meeting last week that “enough was enough.”
“Caspary will be the great guilty one if no decision is taken tomorrow,” the EPP insider said.
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