Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán considered on Monday 6 May that none of the top candidates (Spitzenkandidaten) of the European political parties for the May European elections would have his support, not even the European People's Party (EPP) candidate, the German, Manfred Weber.
He "will not have the vote of the Hungarians", said the Prime Minister on the occasion of the visit to Budapest of Austrian Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, leader of the far-right FPÖ party.
The Hungarian leader, who had supported Weber at the EPP Congress in Helsinki at the end of 2018 (see EUROPE 12120/25), expressed disappointment with the Bavarian's recent statements that "he will not need, and does not want, Hungarian votes to become Commission President". This is "a serious offence to the Hungarian people", Orbán said.
In March, the EPP suspended Mr Orbán's Fidesz party (see EUROPE 12218/8), which is close to Matteo Salvini's Lega Nord (see EUROPE 12246/26) and whose EPP membership issue should be raised again after the European elections.
Several times Mr Weber has pointed out that he would rather team up with the Social Democrats and pro-European Liberals than with the Eurosceptics and sovereignists. At the end of March he even explicitly stated on a German channel his refusal to accept the post of President of the European Commission if he needed the votes of the Fidesz party to do so.
Contacted by EUROPE, Manfred Weber's entourage and the EPP had not reacted to these new statements or indicated whether the 'Orban case' would be discussed on Thursday 9 May in Sibiu, during the meeting of the EPP leaders. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)