Nationalist PM was criticised by leader of centre-right group over billboard attack campaign

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said his ruling nationalist Fidesz party may drop out of the centre-right European People’s party (EPP) amid a row over his government’s anti-Brussels media campaign.

The EPP group leader, Manfred Weber, on Tuesday demanded Fidesz take down billboards criticising the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, which were part of its campaign in the run-up to European parliamentary elections in May.

Orbán told Hungarian public radio on Friday he would prefer to reform the EPP, moving it towards an anti-immigration platform, but also raised the prospect of Fidesz quitting the EPP, which will meet on 20 March to discuss the matter.

“The debate may end up with [Fidesz] finding its place not within but outside the People’s party,” Orbán said. “If we need to start something new … then obviously the first place to hold talks will be in Poland.”

Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party is not a member of the EPP.

Warsaw and Budapest have previously vowed to block any sanctions against either eastern European Union member state over what critics see as a backsliding on democratic standards.

The head of PiS, Jarosław Kaczyński, is Orbán’s ally and the two have met occasionally to discuss European affairs. Orbán said the Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, is to visit Hungary for the 15 March national holiday, when Orbán is due to hold a memorial speech he has often laced with criticism of Brussels.

Orbán’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, said the posters attacking Juncker would be replaced next week by others touting Orbán’s plans to lift the birth rate and that Fidesz wanted to stay in the EPP.