![Patriots for Europe Becomes EU Parliament’s Third Largest Group](https://hungarytoday.hu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/DBOGI20240708053-scaled.jpg)
Jordan Bardella was elected president of the group and Kinga Gál of Fidesz was elected first vice-president.Continue reading
In the European Parliament (EP), only pro-war MEPs are allowed to take up positions, said Kinga Gál, chair of the Fidesz-KDNP group in the EP and vice-president of the Patriots for Europe group in Brussels on Tuesday.
It is outrageous and unacceptable that the mainstream liberal parties have concluded a shameful political pact with the leadership of the European People’s Party (EPP) to prevent the Patriots for Europe (PfE) group from obtaining the committee positions it is entitled to under European Parliament rules, she said.
The Patriots for Europe group will not accept the shameful pact and will use all available legal remedies to assert its rights,”
the politician stressed.
Shame on the @EPPGroup for blocking the @PatriotsEP from the 4th Vice-Chair position in AFET it is entitled to according to EP rules. This is against the rule of law. They are disrespecting EP rules, democracy and even their own gender rules. Outrageous!
— Kinga Gál (@kingagalMEP) July 23, 2024
In the context of the election of the chairs and four vice-chairs of the EP’s committees on Tuesday, Kinga Gál stressed that the mainstream parties are breaking the EP’s rules, going against the rule of law and democracy and ignoring the will of millions of European voters. “It is a disgrace that the Patriots have been banned from committee posts,” said Kinga Gál.
What we have seen clearly shows that the EP’s liberal forces are not willing to accept the democratic election results and cannot accept that Patriots for Europe is the third largest group in the European Parliament,”
she added.
The politician noted that
the EP’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) had, in violation of the EP’s own rule on gender equality, fielded a male candidate from the European People’s Party against the Patriots for one of the vice-chair positions.
“Just to avoid that politicians of the Patriots for Europe group get a position, they have violated the rules of the European Parliament, the rule of law, democracy and even gender equality,” she pointed out. “Patriots for Europe will show that a change is needed in the European Parliament and that a series of unprincipled pacts to preserve power, anti-democratic and anti-rule of law moves cannot be viable in the long term,” she added.
The @Europarl_EN has made its choice: #EU oligarchy instead of #European #democracy. PS: And managed to override its own rules on balance between women and men as well. pic.twitter.com/PwISsXxAi8
— Bóka János (@JanosBoka_HU) July 23, 2024
György Hölvényi, KDNP MEP, spoke out at the renewal meeting of the Committee on Development in Brussels on Tuesday after members of the committee, ignoring the EP’s rules of procedure, refused to allow him to take up the position of vice-chair he was entitled to as a candidate of the Patriots for Europe group.
In accordance with the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, the diversity of the body must be reflected in the composition of the bureau of each committee. But will diversity be reflected if the third largest political group, the Patriots, is excluded from the leading positions in the committees?”
asked the Christian Democrat MEP.
He said that in this case it is a question of dismantling the rule of law, “there is no legal basis for this political behavior.” In his opinion, the MEPs are not respecting the rules of the EU Parliament, which is disrespectful to millions of European voters. “You have just expressed that the elected members of the Patriots for Europe group are second-class citizens. As Orwell wrote: all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. We have reached this dystopia,” he said.
‼️The EP is against its own rules: the diversity of the EP must be reflected in each committee. But @EP_Development disregarded this & excluded the 3rd biggest group from a Vice-Chair position without legal basis. This is a disrespect of millions of European citizens & democracy. pic.twitter.com/1gYt4PGgk2
— György Hölvényi (@HolvenyiGyorgy) July 23, 2024
Following the vote, the MEP issued a statement deploring the “mockery of democracy and the institution of the European Parliament by the left-wing majority.” In his opinion, the left majority is ignoring the votes of the nearly 20 million European citizens who voted for the right, and “this is life-threatening.” “Whatever parliamentary committee we are talking about, this is going to be a problem, because it is about weakening democracy. Why should people participate in the European Parliament elections if this is the consequence?”
Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Bodnár Boglárka