Budapest [Hungary], July 8: Late on July 6, the political coalition movement led by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban gained recognition from the European Parliament to become the body's newest political group, according to AFP yesterday.
7-nation far-right alliance
Belgium's far-right Vlaams Belang party announced on July 6 that it had joined a political group founded by Prime Minister Orban called "Patriots for Europe". The Vlaams Belang party's statement on the evening of July 6 (Belgium time) raised the total number of members participating in the alliance to seven countries, officially meeting the requirements to form a political group.
Politico reports that MEPs sit not by country but by political group. Each group requires at least 23 MEPs from seven countries, and receives financial and procedural advantages in its operations. With Belgium's participation, Patriots for Europe now includes far-right parties from Hungary, Austria, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Spain and the Netherlands.
Prime Minister Orban announced his intention to form a new political coalition on June 30, one day before Hungary takes over the rotating EU presidency for six months, according to Reuters. The parties involved in the coalition will meet in Brussels today (July 8). At that time, Orban will receive an answer from the far-right National Rally (RN) party in France whether to join or not after the party has the results of the second round of the French parliamentary election.
Hungarian Prime Minister's Ambition
With 30 seats in the European Parliament, RN would become the largest political force of the "Patriots for Europe" if it decides to join. DPA predicts that the presence of RN will help the new political group to rise to third place in the parliament, just behind the conservative European People's Party (EPP) and the Social Democratic (SD) coalition.
The developments are playing into Prime Minister Orban's ambitions to become the dominant far-right force in the European Parliament. In addition to campaigning on family values and against immigration, the group wants to end its support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
Meanwhile, the Hungarian leader has just faced an angry reaction from Josep Borrell, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. After Hungary took over the rotating presidency, Mr. Orban traveled to Moscow on July 5 and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A day later, the Hungarian Prime Minister attended a conference of the Organization of Turkic Nations in Azerbaijan. AFP quoted Mr. Borrell as emphasizing that Mr. Orban's above activities only represented Hungary and did not receive approval from the European Council.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper