Viktor
Orbán’s rightwing group hits quota for recognition by EU parliament
Patriots for
Europe gets Danish and Flemish nationalists as latest members, amid EU anger
over Hungary PM’s latest unauthorised foreign policy foray
Guardian
staff and agencies
Sun 7 Jul
2024 05.36 CEST
Viktor
Orbán’s rightwing political movement attracted enough parties on Saturday to
achieve recognition from the European Union parliament in a boost for the
Hungarian prime minister’s self-styled effort to “change European politics”.
The
nationalist and pro-Russia leader announced on 30 June his intention to form an
EU parliamentary grouping called “Patriots for Europe”.
The Danish
People’s party and the Flemish nationalist pro-independence Vlaams Belang
announced on Saturday that they would join, giving Patriots for Europe 23 MEPs
– enough to meet the EU parliament’s threshold for formal recognition.
Other
parties involved are the Austrian far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), the centrist
ANO of former Czech prime minister Andrej Babis, the Party for Freedom (PVV) of
Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders, Portugal’s far-right Chega party and
Spain’s Vox.
Orbán said
the parties would meet on Monday in Brussels. France’s National Rally could
become another ally after the second round of the French legislative elections
on Sunday. Italy’s League, led by Matteo Salvini, has also expressed an
interest in the new movement but has not confirmed its participation.
With the
formation of Patriots for Europe, Orbán is bidding to become the dominant
hard-right force in the EU parliament. As well as campaigning for conservative
family values and against immigration, the group would push to end European
support for Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s invasion.
Orbán,
meanwhile, drew a fresh rebuke from the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell,
on Saturday after attending a meeting of the Organisation of Turkic States in
Azerbaijan.
Hungary took
over the EU’s rotating presidency this month and Orbán on Friday appeared to
try to carry its imprimatur into a surprise meeting with the Russian president,
Vladimir Putin, in Moscow about the Ukraine war.
EU leaders
quickly blasted the visit as not authorised by them and stressed that Orbán was
not representing Brussels.
Orbán’s
participation at an informal OTS summit in Azerbaijan on Saturday was the
latest event where he represented Hungary alone and not the EU, Borrell said.
“Hungary has
not received any mandate from the EU council to advance the relations with the
Organisation of Turkic States.”
Orbán has
sparred with Brussels over his travels. “Are we allowed to have dinner, or do
we need a EUCO mandate for that too?” his political director wrote on X/Twitter
after the Moscow trip.
The EU also
rejected OTS attempts to legitimise the unrecognised Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus by admitting it as an observer, said Borrell. The island of
Cyprus has been divided for decades between the internationally recognised,
Greek-speaking Republic of Cyprus, an EU member, and the Turkish-speaking TRNC,
recognised only by Ankara.
The OTS is
an international organisation bringing together countries with Turkic
languages, founded in 2009 by Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Hungary became an observer of the group in 2018.
With Agence
France-Presse in Belgium
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