RTVS | Expansion of the Patriots for Europe political group

Hungary takes over the Presidency of the Council of the EU from Belgium. However, a new European platform, which was founded in Vienna on Sunday, is more widely discussed on the Hungarian political and media scene. According to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, many will be surprised at how quickly it will grow. Vít Havleka, senior research fellow at EUROPEUM Institute, comments for RTVS on the formation of the European political alliance and its expansion.

"I consider this shift in Babiš's ANO to be the culmination of what we have witnessed in the last six or seven years, when, together with the departure of Pavel Telicka, who at the time was in charge of ANO's entry into a faction with Emmanuel Macron, we are seeing a gradual transformation in ANO from the liberals, through the Social Democrats, and now to, I wouldn't be afraid to call it that, the ultra-right."

The full interview can be found here at 18:04.

Vít Havelka
Senior Research Fellow

Expertise: EU institutional relations with member states, europeisation, transformation role of EU