At a press conference in Budapest on Thursday, 9 January, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán denied that he wanted to join the conservative ACRE (Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe) party, even though a number of photos of meetings between the Hungarian leader and the leaders of the Polish PiS party have been circulating in the last few days, underlining their common values.
The Fidesz leader nevertheless indicated that he is again considering his party's place in the EPP group led by Donald Tusk, which is expected to take a decision on Fidesz membership in late January or early February.
The Hungarian Prime Minister said he would also make a decision on membership in the next few weeks after “talking to Donald Tusk, Sebastian Kurz and Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer”, each of whom he will be meeting, starting with Kurz next week. Orbán also indicated that he has not yet seen the famous Report of the Three Wise Men that was commissioned by the party last March during Fidesz’s suspension (see EUROPE 12218/8), and does not even know “if the report exists”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)