Fidesz MEPs leave EPP - quote from Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield MEP

Today, the European People's Party grouping of conservative MEPs in the European Parliament have overwhelmingly voted to support rule changes that would make it easier to exclude members from the EPP group. The Fidesz delegation of MEPs from Hungary have declared they will leave the EPP group in the European Parliament.

Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield, Greens/EFA MEP and European Parliament Rapporteur for the situation in Hungary, comments:
 
"The departure of Fidesz from the EPP is long overdue. For too long the political cover provided by the EPP to the Hungarian government has given Viktor Orbán legitimacy to his illiberal political project. We hope that our EPP colleagues will now stand shoulder to shoulder with us in defending the rule of law and European democracy. We thank those members who have been standing up to Fidesz over the years.

"However, this was never just about where Fidesz sit in Brussels and Strasbourg, it's about how EU Member States ignore the Hungarian government's actions and breaches of the rule of law. So long as Germany, France and other continue refuse to stand up to Orbán in the Council, it will continue to amount to endorsing his anti-democratic agenda. By pandering to Orbán's threats over major Council decisions and refusing to pursue the Article 7 procedure, EU governments are standing idle as Hungary continues its turn towards autocracy."