Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, supports the fusion of fragmented right-wing extremist factions to form a consolidated front in the European Parliament. Negotiations over this proposition are expected to take place in the following weeks.
Orban, the leader of Hungary’s popular Fidesz party, believes that if conservative right parties can agree to join forces, it could result in the formation of the second largest coalition within the Parliament.
The most recent European elections witnessed substantial advancements by far-right and hard-right factions in several nations, including France, Italy, Austria, and Germany.
However, the equilibrium of power is preserved by the previous effective majority consisting of the European People’s Party (EPP), Renew, and the Socialists and Democrats (S&D). They hold around 400 out of the 720 seats in parliament.
Parties on the right of the EPP gathered approximately 160 seats, however, these seats are primarily divided between two affiliations. As per the provisional results from several countries, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) secured 73 seats involving Italy’s Brothers of Italy led by Giorgia Meloni and Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS). The Identity and Democracy (ID) group, which encompasses France’s National Rally led by Marine Le Pen, seized 58 seats.
During her election campaigning, Le Pen, who outperformed Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance in France, hinted at potentially aligning ID with Meloni’s party to have a larger impact in parliament.
Alternative for Germany (Alternative fur Deutschland), which managed to bag 15 seats, was expelled from ID during the election due to several controversies and does not belong to any alliance. The same is the case for Orban’s Fidesz with its 10 MEPs.
As per Orban’s reaction to the election’s results, if ECR, ID, and Fidesz can find common ground, they could emerge as the second-largest coalition in parliament. Orban notes that this means the right-wing-led cooperation could surpass the Social democrats, Greens, and Liberals.
Mr Orban conveyed to the Hungarian state media that an envisioned union of dominant right-wing factions could exert a powerful influence in the forthcoming parliament. This theoretical powerhouse could possibly allure staunch right-inclined MEPs from the EPP, as he stated. He claimed the success of merging the zealous right and extreme right could be ascertained in the forthcoming month. Planned meetings will take place by political bodies from mid-June to beginning of July to finalise party memberships.