Today’s Europe Uncensored video conference featuring three Central European leaders is designed to foster dialogue that could lead to better mutual understanding among EU member states, said French philosopher and MEP François-Xavier Bellamy in an interview with conservative Hungarian daily Magyar Hírlap.
“We must maintain dialogue with our friends in East-Central Europe. Since becoming member of the European Parliament, I have had the impression that division is a major hazard to Europe [and] these divisions are often fed by a great deal of misunderstanding or often even by false information,” Bellamy said. “The need to strengthen dialogue is more pressing than ever before.”
Bellamy will moderate an English-language video conference today at 10 CET featuring Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša. The conference will streamed here.
Bellamy said that dialogue would also be instrumental in solving the debate surrounding Hungary’s ruling conservative Fidesz party and its membership in the European People’s Party. (EPP).
“If we look at it closely, the divide between the positions is not so huge. We won’t solve anything by preventing dialogue, the lack of which will only benefit our political opponents who would like to see a divided EPP,” Bellamy said. “It is quite particular that when it is about their [the opponents’] people, they are not so quick to take action. For example, no one in Social-Democrat circles spoke about the need to exclude Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat when fact-finding journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered.”
Bellamy said that in order to leave its internal divisions behind, the European People’s Party will also have to redefine itself and reclaim its lost identity.
“We are too often lost in compromises because we don’t know what our priorities are,” Bellamy said. “We are green, but not as green as the Greens. We are also social, but not as much as the Socialists. We also think that migration is a problem, but not to the extent the far right thinks. So where is our own identity?”
Speaking about French domestic policy, Bellamy said his party, Les Republicains must change the dominant premise in French politics.
“Marine Le Pen cannot win the presidential election and she doesn’t really seem ready for the presidency. Emmanuel Macron can only win if Le Pen is his opponent,” Bellamy said. “We must break this vicious cycle and speak about what really matters to the people.”
Title image: French MEP François-Xavier Bellamy. (source: Magyar Hírlap/Róbert Hegedüs)
