Weber has made it clear that he does not want to be the President of the European Commission with the votes of Hungary, Orban said, as reported by Hungarian News agency MTI.
After a meeting with Austrian FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache in Budapest, Orban announced that this would exclude any further support from his Fidesz party for Weber. “We are looking for a new candidate.”
So far, Orban had supported Weber, even though he had spoken in favor of an EU case against Hungary and supported the permanent suspension of Fidesz’s membership in the EPP Group.
There have been several upsets between Orban and EPP politicians in recent weeks. In late February, he was criticized when Fidesz launched a media campaign against EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and US billionaire George Soros. In mid-March , Orban had to apologize for calling the members of the EPP “useful idiots”.
Recently, Orban demanded that the EPP cooperate with sovereignist parties such as the Italian Lega. He also warned against an alliance between the EPP and leftist forces. If they persist, he said the EPP was preparing for its suicide. “It wants to band together with the Left to go down together,” he said on the occasion of a meeting with Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.
Both Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and CDU chief Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer have spoken out against Orban. After the election on May 26, there will be no cooperation with the sovereignist parties that have joined forces to form the European Alliance of Peoples and Nations, they indicated.
Weber clearly needs Hungarian support. He had recently announced that they would settle the dispute with Hungary “with respect and listening”.
Asked to comment on ruling Fidesz’s decision to withdraw support for Manfred Weber’s candidacy, Orban said “Hungary’s government and its head” cannot be in the position to support a European commission presidential candidate who has announced that he does not want the vote of Hungarians.
Weber has said he does not want to become commission president with the help of votes from Hungary, Orban added. “This is a serious position and a violation of the principle to always respect voters,” Orban noted.
The Hungarian Prime Minister stressed, however, that Fidesz would hold off on making a decision about its EPP membership until after the EP election.
On Monday after talks with Vice-Chancellor of Austria Strache, Orban told a joint press conference that the previous, left-wing government in Austria had done everything in its power to prevent Hungary from building its border fence but everything changed with the new government.
If Austria’s centre-right ruling party can work together with a patriotic sovereignist party then this should be possible elsewhere in Europe, Orban pointed out, adding that what works in Vienna could also work in Brussels.
Orban described the European left-wing as “hopelessly pro-migration” and sooner or later they would be forced to make a compromise. “Instead of a European grand coalition we intend to keep on the agenda the possibility of opening to the right,” he explained.
Orban also said Fidesz was keeping track of which parties and politicians stood up for Hungary “whenever the European left launches an attack against Hungary”. He said that Strache’s party had clearly stood up for his country, adding that “we won’t forget this”.