Fidesz MEP: EU's Political Landscape Could be Reshaped After EP Elections

With just two months to go until the European Parliament elections on June 9, Tamas Deutsch spoke of a change of direction for the EU in his latest interview. There is a chance that a "large, united right-wing, conservative, sovereignist EP group could be formed that includes Fidesz and the Christian Democrats," said the lead candidate for the Fidesz EP electoral list. "Such a group could radically reshape the political landscape of the European Union, paving the way for the strengthening of the right wing and widening opportunities for Hungary," he added.

Fidesz MEP Tamas Deutsch at the press conference after the meeting of the European Affairs Committee of the National Assembly in the Parliament on March 27, 2024 (Photo: MTI/Zoltan Balogh)

The team is preparing for victory in the European Parliament (EP) elections on June 9 and relates to the tasks ahead with humility, the lead candidate for the Fidesz EP electoral list told public radio on its Sunday morning program. Tamas Deutsch said that Fidesz's national board wanted to bring together a winning team for the EP elections. He added that the EP electoral list of Fidesz and the Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP) was put together with the awareness that the next EP term will probably be the most difficult and the toughest.

It is already clear that, despite the "extremely harsh political blackmail" of  recent times, there have never been as many "brutal attacks" against Hungary and Hungarian sovereignty as can be expected in the coming years.

EU's political landscape could be reshaped after EP elections

For this reason, it was necessary to put together an EP delegation that would be able to lead Fidesz and KDNP to victory in the fifth EP elections, a team that would be able to "fight back" and protect Hungary's sovereignty in the next five-year term, he said. During the interview, Tamas Deutsch stressed that the EP list of Fidesz and the Christian Democrats is a national list, because "we are not just talking into the air" - as he put it - about the cross-border reunification of the Hungarian communities living in the Carpathian Basin. Highlighting two ethnic Hungarian communities in non-EU member countries bordering Hungary, he said that it is particularly significant for Hungarians living in Vojvodina (Serbia) and Transcarpathia (Ukraine) that their representatives on the EP electoral list of Fidesz and KDNP will also be involved in the European decision-making process.

He noted that this is particularly important now, when "the accession of the Western Balkans, including Serbia, to the EU needs to be given a boost," and that the war in Ukraine makes it very important for the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia to have a representative in the European Parliament. In the radio interview, Tamas Deutsch also pointed out that "farmers in Western Europe have taken to protest against the Brussels policy undermining European agriculture", and that in case of victory, the representation of farmers' interests will also be an important issue in the five years ahead. For months, the "European mainstream" has been saying that a significant "right-wing, sovereignist strengthening" is expected in the June EP elections, he said. In his view, if the election results are favorable and the potential partners are willing to cooperate, there is a chance that a "large, united right-wing, conservative, sovereignist group could be formed in the EP that includes Fidesz and the KDNP".

Such a group could radically reshape the political landscape of the European Union, paving the way for the strengthening of the right wing and widening opportunities for Hungary,

he said.

Regarding the possible re-election of Ursula von der Leyen, Tamas Deutsch said that he sees no possibility of an agreement among the 27 heads of state and government to unanimously support the current European Commission president.

Familiar playbook: attacking Hungary on trumped-up pretexts

Tamas Deutsch said that next week's plenary session in Brussels will hold the "umpteenth" debate on Hungary during the current EP cycle, when "the European left and the Hungarian dollar left, will once again pillory Hungary in the European Parliament". He noted that 

the playbook is the same: statements based on all-too-familiar lies, slanders and  fabricated pretexts will be used to attack Hungary and the Hungarian people.

The real reason, however, is clear, he added, as in next week's "mini-plenary session" the EP will decide on the EU's new migration pact, on a set of laws that will practically "green light" illegal immigration into Europe. "We Hungarians have never supported this pro-migration draft legislation, so we are to be punished again with yet another debate," he pointed out. He said that next week and in the last "regular" plenary session at the end of April, the EP will discuss numerous "pro-war proposals escalating and widening the war in Ukraine". He emphasized that the Hungary's position remains clear:

we continue to uphold a pro-peace stance, calling for an immediate ceasefire and the starting of peace talks.

 This also provokes opposition from the "pro-war" members of the Brussels bureaucracy, he added. "No matter how big the attack and how strong the blackmail coming from Brussels are, we will insist on our position," Tamas Deutsch said on public radio.

Cover photo: Fidesz MEP Tamas Deutsch at the press conference after the meeting of the European Affairs Committee of the National Assembly in the Parliament on March 27, 2024 (Photo: MTI/Zoltan Balogh)