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The European People’s Party decided to sanction but not expel the head of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party in the European Parliament after he made comments critical of the center-right bloc’s leader.
The EPP said in a statement after the decision Wednesday evening that the group “strongly condemns” the statements made by MEP Tamás Deutsch, which it described as a “clear contradiction to European Christian Democracy and to EPP values.”
Deutsch had sparked outrage among fellow EPP group members when he compared comments made by Parliament group leader Manfred Weber to the slogans of the Gestapo and Hungary’s communist-era secret police.
A group of nearly 40 other EPP members, led by Austrian MEP Othmar Karas, had pushed to expel Deutsch from the group as a result.
According to Wednesday’s statement, Deutsch will be denied all rights to speaking time in plenary on behalf of the EPP, and will be barred from holding any formal positions on behalf of the group, such as rapporteur, “until further decisions are made.”
The sanctions stop short of the full expulsion Karas and others had called for, which would have required a two-thirds majority and may have prompted the rest of Fidesz’s MEPs to leave the EPP as well. But the EPP statement said Karas’ letter “remains on the table.”
“My initiative had an impact: Tamas Deutsch has just been suspended,” Karas tweeted. “I am glad that my motion triggered this debate, that the EPP group likewise condemned his unspeakable comparisons, and that there are now consequences.”
The statement adopted by the group also kicks the can down the road on the bigger question of whether Fidesz should remain in the EPP: The group had faced mounting pressure to formally kick Fidesz out given long-running tensions and accusations that Hungary is backsliding on rule of law standards, culminating in the group’s suspension from party ranks last year.
But German members have been reluctant to go so far, and they proposed the lighter suspension.
The statement adopted by the group — with 133 votes in favor to six against and three abstentions — says the EPP must “take a final decision on the membership of Fidesz immediately when health conditions allow this to happen.” It also calls on Fidesz MEPs to “reflect on whether their fundamental political convictions still are compatible with the values and core content of the EPP Group.”
Polish MEP Róża Thun said she was one of the six MEPs to vote against the statement, tweeting: “Dear Opinion Makers, if you intend to hammer #EPP tomorrow, I kindly inform you that I fought to expel #TamasDeutsch and voted against the text postponing the decision until ‘health conditions allow this to happen’. I have lost. And #Orban opened another champagne!”
In a direct response to Thun’s tweet, Deutsch said: “No comment. That’s it.”
Speaking on Hungary’s Hír TV earlier Wednesday evening, Deutsch acknowledged that he had apologized to his EPP colleagues. He also said that when it comes to the criticism directed at him, it was necessary to “rise above it” with a “calm heart and smiling.” Citing a friend’s advice, the Hungarian politician said that “the wise person gets offended not when he is hurt, but when it is in his interest.”
Insiders said expelling Deutsch could have also had 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 a historic €1.8 trillion budget-and-recovery package last week.
Before Wednesday’s decision, Karas said Fidesz was “dividing us within the parliamentary group,” and that he hoped his motion would bring the group back together.
“Sanctions against Mr. Deutsch alone do not solve the problem of Fidesz in the EPP,” Karas said ahead of the decision. “It is important to me that we do not go back to business as usual now.”
Hans von der Burchard and Lili Bayer contributed reporting.
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