Romania's radical AUR reportedly left outside ECR by Orban's FIDESZ

Romania's radical party AUR (Alliance for United Romanians), led by George Simion, was de facto left outside the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Party and has not attended the meeting of ultra-populist and far-right parties in Europe last weekend in Madrid and the conference of the conservative, religious and far-right movements organized on April 16 and 17 in Brussels, according to G4Media.ro.

In response, the leader of the AUR, George Simion, singled out on May 12, at the launch event for the candidates for the European Parliament held in Satu Mare, its main political enemy as being the ethnic Hungarian party UDMR – "a hideous, chauvinistic creature."

UDMR maintains close political ties with Orban's FIDESZ, although it is a member of the European People's Party (EPP) at the European level.

AUR is not part of the European Conservatives (ECR) group due to the opposition expressed by the FIDESZ party led by Viktor Orban, although it has held negotiations in this regard, G4Media.ro reported.

This makes AUR the only parliamentary party in Romania not part of any European political group.

Viktor Orban's FIDESZ first implied that his party would oppose AUR's ECR membership as early as February when János Lázár, Minister of Construction and Transport of Hungary, said in Cluj-Napoca (central Romania), referring to AUR, that "who is the enemy of the Hungarians (implicitly UDMR party), is the enemy of Hungary."

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Ilona Andrei)