Orban says will join Meloni's group after EP poll

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 1 - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Thursday his rightwing Fidesz party will join the Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group led by his friend and rightwing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party chief and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni after the European Parliament elections this summer.
Fidesz is currently unaligned after leaving the European People's Party (EPP) in 2021 following a suspension over the alleged undermining of the rule of law in Hungary.    "The idea was to join even earlier but at this point we will do so after the elections," Orban told la Repubbica and La Stampa dailies after the EU summit in Brussels in which Meloni was instrumental in getting him to drop his veto on 50 billion euros in aid for Ukraine.
    "Anyway, my answer is yes, we are ready and we will join the Conservatives".
    The ECR, founded by former Tory leader, ex-prime minister and current Foreign Minister David Cameron in 2009, include rightwing parties including Spain's Vox, Poland's Law and Justice Party, and the Sweden Democrats. (ANSA).