KDNP to leave EPP over left turn

KDNP leader Zsolt Semjén and MEP György Hölvényi said on Tuesday that the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP), Hungary’s junior ruling party, is leaving the European People’s Party and the party family’s group in the European Parliament, in response to the EPP’s decision to admit Péter Magyar, the leader of opposition Respect and Freedom (Tisza) party, into its EP group. KDNP had stated earlier, after talks with EPP leader Manfred Weber, that they disagreed with the party family’s “pro-war doctrine” and opposed “on moral grounds” the admission of Tisza to the party family or that of its leader, Péter Magyar, to the EPP party group, the statement said. “The EPP has shifted to the left and lost its identity in the process, it is no longer the party created by its Christian Democratic founders… Its pro-war doctrine is opposed to the pro-peace commitment that was at the root of the European Union,” the statement said. KDNP will continue to represent the interests of Hungarians and Christian Democracy, and Hölvényi “will continue to fight for persecuted Christians”, the statement said.