The European People's Party is negotiating with the Socialists and Liberals to “quarantine” the “far right and Putin's friends,” Telex reported, citing a speech by Pedro Lopez de Pablo, the party family's communications director, on Friday.
The politician was asked whether the quarantine applied to Identity and Democracy (ID) would also apply to the new group Patriots for Europe (PfE), mainly because the representative group had completely switched to Viktor Orbán's new faction, with the exception of one member.
Pedro López de Pablo justified the quarantine negotiations in the press briefing held before the meeting by saying that these are elected positions and that they do not want these deputies to represent the institution.
Most of the top positions in the European Parliament – the president, the 14 vice-presidents and the five officials responsible for administrative tasks – will be decided at the opening session next week. According to the internal regulations of the Council In their election, “consideration shall be given to the fair representation of political views.” The other leadership positions, namely the chair and vice-chair of the committees specializing in the preparation of legislation, will remain for one week after the following week.
According to initial reports, the Patriots for Europe faction will be excluded from leadership positions here as well, reducing their influence on legislation.
a telex According to his report, Alonso de Mendoza, spokesman for the Patriots for Europe party and a member of Spain’s Vox party, listed on Friday three committees – not the legal one – that he is expected to chair. They are confident in the leadership position of the agricultural committee, but they have to choose a chair, and the candidate will be determined on Tuesday.
According to information, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Representative Group wants to put one of its members at the head of the Legal Committee, which despite the opposition of several people from the great centrist coalition, they eventually reached an agreement with the PP and exchanged it with the Agriculture Committee. López de Pablo of the PP did not confirm this, stressing that nothing had been decided until the formation.
Viktor Orban's speech not on the agenda
Next week's European Parliament meeting is the first since Hungary took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union. As is customary in the parliament, the presidential programme will be presented at the level of the head of state or government, but Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's speech is not on the agenda, as Clara de Mello Pons confirmed on behalf of the Liberals.
“I think they saw what he was doing,” the Liberal spokesman said, referring to the Hungarian prime minister's so-called “peace mission” trips.
The index also reported that the Hungarian Prime Minister's visits were not a complete success in the EU, and among other things there was discontent because Viktor Orbán confused the successive presidency with his “peace mission”. The liberal spokesman claimed that the Hungarian Prime Minister's speech was not on the agenda for this reason.
(Cover photo: Viktor Orban before the roundtable discussion at the European Council summit at the EU headquarters on March 22, 2024. Photo: Nicholas Economou/Norfoto/Getty Images)
