Hungary Stands Firm in Face of Criticism By European Parties

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) – The party of Hungary’s prime minister says it “cannot yield” to conditions set for it to remain in the main center-right group in the European Parliament.

Balazs Hidveghi, communications director of Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party, said Wednesday that “the defense of European Christian values and stopping migration is more important than party discipline.”

The European People’s Party is set to discuss Fidesz’s membership at a meeting on March 20 amid the Orban government’s campaign against EU leaders.

Several smaller parties within the EPP are calling for Fidesz’s ouster after years of conflict over the rule of law, democratic EU values and mass immigration.

Manfred Weber, the EPP candidate to succeed European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, said that, among other conditions, Orban should stop the anti-Brussels campaign and apologize.