Viktor Orbán, at least a little. In a letter to the leaders of several member parties of the European People's Party (EPP), the Hungarian Prime Minister apologizes - but only for calling his critics "useful idiots".

This is a quote from the Russian revolutionary Lenin, Orbán said in a letter to Wouter Beke, president of the Belgian CD & V. "I wanted to criticize a certain policy and not certain politicians," says the letter to the SPIEGEL.

However, according to SPIEGEL information, the letter was not sent to the entire Christian Democratic party family, but only to the leaders of those EPP member parties who demand the expulsion of Orbán's Fidesz party. The EPP states that the two Swedish EPP parties also received the letter word for word. Currently 13 parties are calling for the expulsion of Fidesz, with CDU and CSU not among them.

#Orban apologizes to other EPP leaders - but only to those who are calling for #Fidesz expulsion and only for "useful idiots" line pic.twitter.com/I49lK3cKug

- Markus Becker (@MarkusBecker) March 14, 2019

Whether the letter is sufficient to prevent the expulsion of the Fidesz party from the EPP, is questionable. Wouter Beke, for example, is obviously not impressed: although the Flemish Christian Democrat leader accepted Orbán's letter, it was said in EPP circles. However, the letter says nothing about EU values. Beke will therefore not change his opinion about an expulsion of Fidesz from the EPP.

Orbán had created a poster campaign against European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker for the recent scandal and the demands for the Fidesz expulsion. Manfred Weber, head of the EPP Group for the European Parliament and top candidate for the European elections, then addressed three clear demands to Orbán:

  • An apology to the other EPP parties - not just for the "useful idiot" slogan, but also for having heavily burdened other EPP members with his policies,
  • the cessation of all anti-Brussels and anti-EU poster campaigns, regardless of whether they are against Commissioner Juncker or other EU politicians,
  • the guarantee that the Central European University (CEU) will continue to operate in Budapest.

With his letter, Orbán fulfilled only one of the three requirements - and only partially. Much more important than an apology for the "useful idiot" phrase, however, the remainder of the EPP would be Orbán's departure from controversial parts of his policy. His criticism is in particular his opposition to a solidary solution to the refugee and migration issue and his authoritarian domestic policy, which among other things has led to the extensive alignment of the Hungarian media.

It is "no secret" that there is "serious disagreement" between Fidesz and other EPP parties on migration issues, the "protection of Christian culture" and the future of Europe, Orbán admits in his letter. However, it would be "not sensible" to resolve such differences by excluding a party from the family. Orbán therefore asks Beke and his other opponents within the EPP to "reconsider their proposal for exclusion."

In terms of content, Orbán does not approach his critics a millimeter. "It's no secret," he emphasizes, "that we do not want to change our position on these issues."

This continues to be a serious argument when the leaders of the EPP meet in Brussels on 20 March. The agenda will then include a vote on the temporary suspension or expulsion of Fidesz. Around 260 delegates from 56 parties are expected to vote.