BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s governing party has submitted a letter of resignation from its center-right European political family, bringing an end to years of conflict within the group over Hungary’s record on democratic values and the rule of law.
The letter, released in a Thursday tweet by a vice-president of the ruling Fidesz party, Katalin Novak, declared that Fidesz “no longer wishes to maintain its membership in the European People’s Party,” and that it would resign its place in the conservative political family.
“It’s time to say goodbye,” Novak wrote in the tweet.
EPP Chief Donald Tusk immediately retorted: “FIDESZ has left Christian Democracy. In truth, it left many years ago.”