Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban paid an official visit to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Monday. The two politicians often discussed cooperation between the two countries, in addition to the Hungarian government's presidency of the European Union and its priorities.
Although both Viktor Orbán and Giorgia Meloni welcome relations between the two governments, according to the Hungarian Prime Minister, there has been no discussion about whether Fidesz will join the conservative and reformist Eurosceptics led by Giorgia Meloni, who are critical of the European Integration Group (ECR) in the European Parliament .
Viktor Orbán announced after the meeting that Fidesz would not join the Meloni party family.
The Hungarian Prime Minister reiterated the previous statement of Matej Kocsis, according to which Fidesz does not want to join a party family and representative group whose members belong to an anti-Hungarian party, the Romanian far-right AUR, according to the Hungarian government. the euronews But according to his report, the Hungarian Prime Minister did not address the fact that Meloni had previously ruled out joining Fidesz.
Orban said about his meeting with Meloni, that the two party leaders did not discuss partisan matters, as it was held on June 17, at the informal European Union summit in Brussels.
We have made it clear that we follow national policy and cannot be part of a political family that includes an anti-Hungarian Romanian party.
– Viktor Orban, who expressed his objection to the fact that the center-right European People's Party, the Socialists and Social Democrats, and the liberal European Union Renewal Party, have already agreed among themselves on who they want to head the European institutions, emphasized.
In this regard, the Hungarian Prime Minister said: “We cannot accept the creation of a majority and opposition in Europe, and a coalition that divides the senior positions.” Officially, the heads of state and government of member states will decide on the matter this week, at a two-day EU summit starting on Thursday.
According to unofficial news, member states are recommending Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as President of the European Commission, former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa for the Presidency of the European Council, and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas for the highest diplomatic position in the European Union.
After the meeting, Giorgia Meloni spoke about how Hungary is an important European partner and a valuable ally of Italy. Meloni also expressed his great happiness at the intensification of dialogue between the two governments and the strengthening of economic relations between the two countries.
The Romanian far right expects Fidesz to join the European Council
Fidesz left the family of the center-right Christian Democratic European People's Party and the European Parliament group in 2021, and has since held a seat among independents in the European Parliament without party family membership.
Before the European Parliament elections, many Fidesz members expressed hope that after the elections the party would join the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group led by Giorgia Meloni, which is critical of European integration. It was opposed by the Democratic State Party, the Finns Party of Finland, and the aforementioned Romanian AUR party.
However, the Romanian far-right party now wants to see Fidesz in the European Parliament.
We have always supported a large parliamentary group. We have reached an impasse, and the dialogue must continue at the highest level. He added: “But I think the door is still open.” For a politician The new head of the AUR delegation, which entered the ECR region last week, is Claudio Tarzio.
At the same time, despite the conciliatory gesture on the part of the Romanian party representative, Fidesz will almost certainly not join the European Council, which has in the meantime become the third largest representative group – because in order to join, Meloni expected the parties to stand. Seeking more support for Ukraine, which was rejected by the largest party in the Hungarian government, Orban said in Rome that membership of the African Union Association constituted a disqualifying factor for him.
(Cover photo: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán shake hands on June 24, 2024. Photo: Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters)
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