The day before taking over the rotating presidency of the European Union, the Hungarian Prime Minister announced the formation of a new party group of the European Parliament.

[Text/Observer Network Chen Sijia] According to the Hungarian National newspaper, on June 30, local time, just the day before Hungary officially took over the rotating presidency of the European Union, Hungarian Prime Minister Orban announced that he would cooperate with Austrian and Czech right-wing parties to form a new party group in the European Parliament. The goal of the party group is to become the largest right-wing alliance in Europe, thus "changing European politics".

According to the report, Orban met with Andrei Babiche, leader of the Czech Disgruntled Citizen Action Party, and Herbert Kickel, leader of the Austrian Liberal Party, in Vienna, Austria, and the three of them signed an agreement to form a "Patriots for Europe" party group.

Orban said at a joint news conference that the EU economy is in crisis, facing the threat of terrorism, illegal immigration and the risk of escalating the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. He accused the EU leadership of making a wrong decision, which led to the loss of competitiveness of the European economy. "The European people want peace, order and development, but the Brussels elite has only brought war, immigration and stagnation."

Orban said that the new party group was formed to change European politics. "Today, three political parties are united: the most powerful Austrian party, the most powerful Czech party and the most powerful Hungarian party. We have the responsibility to start this new platform and new faction. Our goal is to become the most powerful right-wing alliance in European politics. "

Czech "Dissatisfied Citizens Action Party"Leader Babiche, Austrian Liberal Party leader Kickel and Hungarian Prime Minister Orban signed an agreement to form a new party group (video screenshot).

Kickel also delivered a speech at the news conference. He described the "European Patriots" party group as "a powerful core of change in central Europe" with the goal of ensuring a "better future" for Europe. Kickel also announced that the new party group will appear at the first meeting of the new European Parliament on July 16th, local time, seeking to initiate a "political change".

Babiche, on the other hand, said that the agenda of the "European Patriots" party group will be linked with the three priorities of protecting sovereignty, cracking down on illegal immigrants and revising the green agreement. He believes that the EU must formulate laws and regulations to protect the borders of member States and stop illegal immigration, and revise the green agreement in a more balanced way to ensure that environmental protection policies will not endanger the EU’s economic development and competitiveness.

Babiche said that the new party group wants to build a "Europe composed of independent nation States" instead of a "Brussels-led Federation". "We are open to cooperation with all like-minded organizations and individuals."

In the European Parliament elections held in June, the multinational right-wing parties in the European Union performed strongly. Among them, the Hungarian ruling party, the Youth League led by Orban, won 11 seats in the European Parliament, the largest opposition party in the Czech Republic, the Dissatisfied Civil Action Party, won 7 seats, and the Austrian Liberal Party won 6 seats, all of which were the political parties with the highest votes in their respective countries.

However, the European News Channel pointed out that the "European Patriot" party group still needs the support of at least four political parties in other countries before it can be recognized as a party group in the European Parliament.

On July 1, local time, Hungary officially took over the rotating presidency of the European Union for a term of six months. During this period, Hungary will host the EU meeting and set the EU’s political agenda.

The Hungarian National newspaper said that Orban put forward the slogan of "making Europe great again", and listed seven priorities: improving the EU’s economic competitiveness, strengthening the defense policy, promoting the EU’s enlargement process, curbing illegal immigrants, reshaping the "cohesion fund" aimed at narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, promoting the "farmer-oriented agricultural policy" and meeting the population challenge.

Ianos Boca, Hungarian Minister of EU Affairs, told Hungarian media on June 30th that improving European competitiveness will be the main topic of concern during Hungary’s presidency. Hungary hopes to build a European capital market that can promote infrastructure and energy links, and formulate European industrial policies aimed at achieving key goals such as green transformation.

Boca also pointed out that when Hungary holds the rotating presidency, the European Parliament, the European Commission and other institutions are being reorganized, so Hungary will also strive to ensure the smooth operation of EU institutions. "As long as Hungary, as the presidency, can show the changes expected by European citizens according to the results of the European Parliament elections while ensuring the transition of EU institutions, then Hungary is successful."

This article is an exclusive manuscript of Observer. It cannot be reproduced without authorization.