Fine Gael MEPs welcome Fidesz departure

Today, the EPP Group voted by a large majority (84.1% or 148 MEPs) in favour of amending the Group’s internal Rules of Procedure. The changes allow for the exclusion or suspension of groups of Members or national delegations and apply equally to all delegations belonging to the EPP. The five Fine Gael MEPs Seán Kelly, Deirdre Clune, Frances Fitzgerald, Colm Markey and Maria Walsh voted in favour of the new Rules of Procedure.

It was widely anticipated that the changed rules of procedure would pave the way for a vote on the membership of Fidesz in the EPP Group in the coming weeks. However, immediately after today’s vote on the new rules, the leader of Fidesz, Viktor Orbán, announced the resignation of the party’s 12 MEPs from the EPP Group.

“We stand for a fair society that provides equal opportunities and protects the legitimate interests of future generations. We value human dignity, freedom, equality and justice, democracy, human rights and solidarity. Anyone who does not support those core values does not belong in the EPP Group”, said Seán Kelly MEP, Fine Gael’s leader in the European Parliament.

The Fidesz party has been suspended from the EPP party, the European umbrella party to which Fine Gael belongs, since early 2019.