Victor Orban’s party Fidesz is kicked out from the European People’s Party (EPP), the centre-right political bloc in the European Parliament, today.

The eurosceptic and anti-immigration Hungarian leader has been accused of regularly breaching the rules of the European Union and targeting senior EPP members with his provocative speeches and anti-EU billboards. And today the 260 members of the EPP, a grouping including representatives from Angela Merkel’s CDU, Spain’s People’s Party and France’s The Republicans, voted to expel or suspend Fidesz's membership. Mr Orban will be given the right to defend himself in person at today’s meeting, according to Hungarian media. 

But Fidesz decided to immediately quit the EPP if members of the European group decide to suspend it, Mr Orban's chief of staff on Wednesday. 

Gergely Gulyas said: "It is about the dignity of Fidesz and the country."

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, also known as AKK, who became Germany’s CDU leader in late 2018, advocated a membership “freeze” for Mr Orban’s party, to last until trust between Budapest and Brussels was rebuilt.

She said: "As long as Fidesz does not fully restore trust there cannot be normal full membership.”