Kicking Orbán out

The European People’s Party (EPP, centre-right grouping of EU political parties) would make a serious mistake if its leaders decide against the expulsion from the group of Viktor Orbán’s party, Fidesz.

Recently, Fidesz and above all, its leader, the Prime Minister of Hungary, have launched a vicious campaign against Jean-Claude Juncker, who is a prominent member of the EPP family. That’s not only incomprehensible but is also totally unacceptable, as the campaign is tainted by lies and inspired by anti-Semitic sentiments. Basically, Orbán tries to draw dividends from his fabrications against George Soros. He wants to extend the negative image he has managed to build of Soros to the President of the European Commission. Orbán’s tactics consist in inventing an enemy and then concentrate the voters’ attention on destroying such person.

It is politics without any type of scruples. The man is very dangerous.

That comes in addition to Orbán’s domestic crusades against the freedom of the press, the autonomy of the academic institutions and his repeated attacks against the independence of the NGOs.

He does not belong to the centre-right politics. He is an extremist. Therefore, he should join the extreme right circles. The sooner that message is sent to him, and all, the better.

Schulz and Juncker, the twin brothers

 As it gets closer to the EU parliamentary elections it is also clearer that the two main candidates for the top job of Commission President are just the opposite face of the same coin. There is no major difference, in terms of EU policies and choices, between Martin Schulz, from Germany and leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, meaning the social-democrat head, and Jean-Claude Juncker, from Luxembourg and the front name for the European People´s Party, the centre-right. Therefore, the question is more about personalities than anything else. Some people would find Schulz more attractive, they would say he might be more progressive, whatever that means in the case of these two men, others would say that Juncker has more experience. Between the two, it is obvious that Juncker is the one that has been around longer, that knows more when it comes to the business of government and also has been tested as the leader, for a very long period, of the finance ministers´ Eurogroup. That makes him a better candidate. But politics is a very complex field and competence is not always a criteria of success.