The statement, the first substantive business of the new European Parliament, received 495 votes in favour and 137 against.
The far right in the European Parliament made its voice heard on Wednesday by unsuccessfully attempting to block the 10th legislature’s first resolution, which doubled down on support for Ukraine and denounced Viktor Orbán’s controversial “peace tour.”
The Parliament blasted Orbán’s meeting with Vladimir Putin as a “blatant violation of the EU’s Treaties and common foreign policy, including the principle of sincere cooperation” and said it “should be met with repercussions for Hungary.”
The vast majority of MEPs from the Patriots for Europe and the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) groups voted against the text, tabled to counteract the radical right’s growing influence in the hemicycle.
But the centrist consensus won out: the resolution received 495 votes in favour, 137 against and 47 abstentions.
Majority of nay-sayers come from far right
The majority of no votes came from the Patriots, including from its president, France’s Jordan Bardella, and the ESN, which is dominated by Alternative for Germany (AfD).
In his speech, Bardella condemned Russia’s “imperialism” but said the text was “problematic” for advocating greater military assistance and Ukraine’s accession to the EU, which he claimed would “severely impact” subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy, of which France is a major recipient.
Bardella also took issue with the criticism leveled at Orbán’s unannounced visit to Russia. “We cannot accuse Hungary, a key partner in the transatlantic alliance, of trying to keep open communications channels,” he said.
René Aust, co-chair of the ESN, also praised the Hungarian leader’s initiative and urged the start of peace talks “even if this is very difficult and time-consuming.”
Seven MEPs from the hard-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), including the five from Romania’s AUR party, broke ranks with the group’s pro-Ukraine stance and voted against the text. However, most ECR representatives, such as Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy and Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS), supported it.
Dissent also occurred on the other side of the spectrum.
The Left is also divided
The Left was split: 18 of its members endorsed the resolution, 15 opposed it and 13 chose to abstain. (The Left’s leadership did not give any instructions ahead of the vote.)
More notable were the three newly elected Green MEPs from Italy – Cristina Guarda, Leoluca Orlando and Benedetta Scuderi – who voted against the joint call.
Among the Socialists & Democrats (S&D), four lawmakers from Malta, a neutral country, moved against the text due to its NATO references.
Almost 30 unaffiliated MEPs also rejected the resolution, signalling their ideological resonance with the far-right.
No lawmakers from the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) voted against the text, but its new Hungarian delegation, Peter Magyar’s TISZA party, abstained.
TISZA “could not support a European Parliament resolution that threatens Hungary with harmful consequences due to Viktor Orbán’s misguided policy, and that calls on all member states to continue the war until the final victory and to deliver weapons,” Magyar wrote on his Facebook account.
Magyar also said he disagreed with the cordon sanitaire that the EPP, the S&D and the Liberals imposed on Patriots and the ESN, which prevents parties like Orbán’s Fidesz from gaining high-level administrative posts in the Parliament.
“The vote of every Hungarian voter is equal, regardless of whether they cast it for a representative of the government or the opposition,” Magyar said.
