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All seven members of Hungary’s opposition Tisza party have been sanctioned by the European People’s Party (EPP) group for failing to support European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a motion to censure her on Thursday.
Péter Magyar’s Tisza is at the forefront of Hungary’s opposition, challenging Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government in the country’s April 12 parliamentary elections.
The party is a member of the EPP group and supports it in the campaign to overthrow Orbán’s nationalist government. The group adopted new rules earlier this week to tighten voting discipline. That means members who don’t follow the party’s position on key votes will be automatically penalized.
As a result of the EPP Group’s sanctions, none of Tisza’s seven MEPs will be able to speak in plenary session or present new reports in Parliament for the next six months.
“We have been punished for not taking part in Thursday’s vote on the no-confidence motion against the European Commission president, contrary to the National Party’s position,” party leader Péter Magyar said on Facebook.
“Senator Tisa is keeping an eye on this decision,” he added. “At the same time, we appreciate Brussels’ confirmation that Tissa’s politicians have no owners.”
The censure motion was brought by the far-right group Europatriots over the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement, but the European Parliament overwhelmingly supported him. Mr. Tisa did not comment on why he refused to vote for Mr. von der Leyen.
In addition to Tisza, other EPP members also opposed the party’s line on the motion, with four abstaining and one, Jessica van Leeuwen from the Dutch Peasants’ Citizens’ Movement, voting against von der Leyen.
Prime Minister Orbán targets Tisza as ‘Brussels’ puppet’
Tisza won 30% of the Hungarian vote in the 2024 European elections and joined the EPP. The latest opinion polls show the party leading Prime Minister Orbán’s ruling coalition Fidesz.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has often ridiculed the Magyars as subservient to EU leaders and has argued that an election victory would undermine Hungary’s sovereignty. Government billboards depict him as von der Leyen’s puppet.
Last September, the prime minister made it clear that the election was a strategic choice between his nationalist and sovereignist party and Tisza’s Europeanism. Mr Orbán claimed to have warned that this politics “will be disastrous and as a result we will be plunged into chaos and poverty.”
Prime Minister Orbán also claimed that once Tisza came to power, he would hold a vote to admit Ukraine to the European Union.
