Orbán himself has openly expressed a desire to join the ECR — dominated by Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy and Poland’s Law & Justice party.
Meloni and Orbán have developed close ties at the European Council, with the Italian prime minister increasingly seen as a bridge between Budapest and Brussels.
There are 12 MEPs from Fidesz in the European Parliament, but they are not attached to any political family, having left the center-right EPP group in 2021 in a rule-of-law showdown.
“In the Nordics the image of Hungary on the right has been seriously damaged by the choices made since the full-scale Russian invasion began, including the unwillingness to ratify Sweden’s NATO application,” Weimers added.
“It’s possible [that Orbán joins] but definitely his party has to change [its] position on Russia’s Ukraine aggression,” said Latvian MEP Roberts Zīle, a top figure in the ECR, and a Parliament vice-president.
EU lawmaker Carlo Fidanza said that the next step is for Orbán to green light Sweden’s bid to join NATO.
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