BRUSSELS: Hungarian premier Viktor Orban's fledgling political movement attracted enough parties to achieve recognition from the European Parliament in a boost for his latest ploy to shift Brussels rightwards.
The nationalist leader announced June 30 his intention to form a new EU parliamentary group called "Patriots for Europe", vowing "a new era" that "will change European politics".
He made the announcement with the Austrian far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) and the centrist ANO of former Czech prime minister Andrej Babis in Strasbourg, and since then, five more parties said they will join.
With the Danish People's Party and the Flemish nationalist pro-independence Vlaams Belang announcing they would join on Saturday, Patriots for Europe fulfilled the EU parliament's threshold for formal recognition — 23 lawmakers from seven countries. Orban said the parties would meet on Monday in Brussels.
By that time, Orban will know if France's National Rally has chosen to join forces with him after the second round of the country's legislative elections on Sunday.
If the National Rally decides to join Patriots for Europe, it would be the biggest political force within the group with 30 MEPs.
Italy's League, led by Matteo Salvini, has also expressed an interest in the new movement but has not confirmed its participation.
Meanwhile, Orban drew a fresh rebuke from EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Saturday after the nationalist leader attended a meeting of the Organization of Turkic States in Azerbaijan.
Brussels, EU allies, the United States and Kyiv had already slammed Orban for holding talks on the Ukraine war with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday.
EU officials blasted the surprise trip, saying it threatened to undermine the 27-member bloc's stance on the conflict and stressed that he was not representing Brussels.
Orban's participation at an informal OTS summit in Azerbaijan on Saturday was the latest event where he represented Hungary alone and not the European Union, Borrell said.
"Hungary has not received any mandate from the EU Council to advance the relations with the Organisation of Turkic States," Borrell said in a statement.
The EU also rejected OTS attempts to legitimise the unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus by admitting it as an observer, said Borrell. — AFP
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