My party supports the exclusion of Fidesz from the European People’s Party (EPP) and I support the exclusion of Tamas Deutsch from the EPP group.
Vladimir Belcek, a member of the Slovak Parliament in the European Parliament, responded to the request for the index. The Index contacted several PPP politicians after Tamas Deutsch, head of the European Parliament delegation at Fidesz-KDNP, apologized to Manfred Weber, leader of the People’s Party faction, for his scandalous statement last week.
Fides’ politician had previously compared the group leader’s remarks to the arguments of the Gestapo and VVO. Deutsch’s response to what was said about the EU budget. Hungary and Poland vetoed the fact that most EU member states will budget for the next seven years and adopt the Epidemic Recovery Fund subject to more stringent terms than the rule of law.
For this, Deutsch withdrew the dictatorship card, on which a group of his fellow members of Parliament launched an unexpected attack. Austrian People’s Party Vice President Ottmar Karas, an Austrian politician, took the initiative to collect the signatures to demand that the Hungarian member be excluded from the EPP group. The Index also received a petition that can also be read on the small Twitter blog, which was signed by 37 representatives from 16 countries last week. The letter describes Deutsch’s words as horrific and shameful.
The statements of Tamas Deutsch are disgraceful. He compares the European Union to the oppression of the Nazis and Communists and our advocacy of the rule of law with the methods of the Gestapo. My initiative to get it out of Embed a Tweet Excluded, support 30 MEPs so far. pic.twitter.com/CSkvk4r004
– The fruits of kuras (othmar_karas) December 2, 2020
The Hungarian representative apologized and sent his message to the press.
“It is no coincidence that Tamas Deutsch said what he said. Driven by populist interests or deliberate hate speech ″
– Michaela Ogdrova, a Czech member of the EPP group, tells INDEX. According to the politician, the petition was not in favor of Weber, but against intentional misleading of Hungary.
Therefore, an apology is not a solution. He must withdraw his previous statements, and if he refuses to do so, he must either resign his position in the party or be excluded by the political group.
Said Godrova. In response to our question, the MEP said that the Schager scandal that broke out last week was not related to the attack on Deutsch or the issue of excluding Fides.
However, it does contain a rather nasty message.
– He continued.
They are still talking to Deutsch
It’s not the members of the EPP faction from the Visegrad countries (along with Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland) that Fidesz offended. Denis Radtek, a member of the European Parliament for the main German ruling party in the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), also told the index. He said he knew Deutsch very well and said his apology rarely came from the heart.
“He does not know fair play, and his first speech was not like that.”
He told your rad the index, but he didn’t mention any other example. The German delegate stressed that the fate of the politician Fides must be decided according to precise legal procedures. There will be a meeting with Tamás Deutsch this week where he can also present his position. After that, the EPP group can vote on their fate, Radtek said, adding that no decision on the Hungarian politician’s case is expected this week.
Words of condemnation from a CDU politician may be particularly sensitive not only to Deutsch but also to Fides. The Hungarian ruling party was suspended by the European People’s Party in March 2019, when Fidesz managed to escape total exclusion thanks to a powerful German lobby. Last spring, Fidesz’s deportation began by 13 members of the European People’s Party because they considered government policy to be inconsistent with the values the People’s Party represents. The Deutsche Weber argument indicates that even after a year and a half, the conflict will not move toward reconciliation.
At our request, Radtek said: His personal position regarding Fidesz membership is quite clear from the start, and the Hungarian ruling party has nothing to gain in the European People’s Party.
“What Fides does is not a gratitude for Christian democracy,” Radtke said.
According to him, the policy of the Hungarian ruling party is inconsistent with the values represented by the European People’s Party. Restrictions on freedom of the press and anti-Semitic expressions by people close to the government run counter to the principles of the party’s family. The CDU’s position is also expected to change, Radtke said. Leader of the German ruling party, Angret Kramp-Karenbauer, resigned this year. Although in January 2021 a new party leader is expected ChoseRadtke said the new driver is unlikely to treat Fides with his gloved hand and might support his disqualification.
Orbán proposes an intermediate solution
Viktor Orban, president of Fides, has just interfered: in a letter written on Sunday, he proposed to Weber a more flexible cooperation than before: cooperation that the British Conservatives had developed with the People’s Party, even before Brexit.
It is no coincidence that there is a way out. Right now, it would seem ForThat with the suspension of Vids and Permanent War, everyone will lose. The Hungarian ruling party has been placed in a legally vacant place, its representatives are not permitted to hold positions in the European People’s Party, and although they can participate in the deliberations, they have not had a meaningful say in the internal affairs of the party since last year. At the same time, the Hungarian delegation has the freedom to express its views, which is what Fidesz is doing more and more often – sometimes against the position represented by the EPP.
At our request, the press division of the EPP Group said that Fides’ status would be determined at the party’s upcoming political assembly, but it was not known when this would happen. “Since more than 200 party members will have to meet in person to discuss the issue, it is unlikely that due to the epidemiological situation, this will happen this year,” the People’s Party press division wrote.
(Cover photo: Tamás Deutsch at the preparatory meeting of the Council of Europe on November 25, 2020. Photo: Philippe Boysen / European Parliament)
