A top aide to Hungary's prime minister says he sees only a "slight possibility" that Viktor Orban's Fidesz Party will link up with Italy's Matteo Salvini in a coalition in the European Parliament.

Gergely Gulyas, Orban's chief of staff, said Thursday that while they "naturally respect" Salvini and the Italian government, he sees only an "extraordinarily small chance" of Fidesz sharing a parliamentary group with some of the other potential unnamed members of a possible Salvini-led coalition.

Orban has previously rejected any attempts to align him with France's far-right National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen.

Before the elections, Orban frequently called on the European People's Party to cooperate more closely with Salvini and other euroskeptics.

Fidesz was suspended from the EPP in March over concerns about Hungary's democracy.