Membership in the EPP for Orbán is important ideologically and politically. The Hungarian Prime Minister knew Kohl personally and in the anniversary of Kohl’s death spoke about the importance of the former German chancellor. His perception of Kohl as a Christian politician and a unificator is false – the Christian topic was secondary and uniting Germany came in hand with dividing Europe through Maastricht and the Euro. But there is another interpretation of Kohl’s politics by Orbán. The Hungarian PM always considered it a mistake that his Polish partners were missing from the EPP and views the party as a formation not doing what it is meant to be for. Orbán says the place of Fidesz is with CSU and its task is the renewal of Christian roots. This Christianity is broader than the Slovak perception – the issue of abortion is missing, the definition of marriage, immigration and civilizational values are included.
This conflict is further complicated with the state of democracy in Hungary, especially after the politicized resolution of the European Parliament and the possible sanctions against Orban. The real consequences, which are more important, were spotted by Austrian Sebastian Kurz. He mentioned to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung he does not wish the emergence of a new political party “which would unite morally unequal, unwanted eastern-Europeans” (moralisch nicht ebenbürtige und eigentlich ungewollte Osteuropäer). Kurz senses that Orbán has the support of Kaczynski, Babiš and Fiala, and the Hungarian Prime Minister serves as an example for his own coalition partner, Heinz-Christian Strache and Matteo Salvini. Orbán became an issue for the European left and right. And he is disturbed by one thing: that he is not recognized by Slovak politicians in the European Parliament.
