Hungary Vote Deepens Rift in European Right

The European Parliament's vote to censure Hungary presents the assembly's dominant centre-right bloc with a dilemma over whether to retain its populist Hungarian allies or expel them months before elections.

Some European lawmakers, or MEPs, say the vote means it is now inevitable the European People's Party (EPP), which gathers political movements from several countries, will oust the Fidesz group of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

But others voice fears the EPP would be shooting itself in the foot by expelling a party that could boost support for populists in the May parliament elections.

Still others accuse major players like French President Emmanuel Macron of trying to exploit the rift within the EPP to benefit pro-European centrists and liberals.

The parliament on Wednesday mustered the two-thirds majority needed to push for unprecedented sanctions against Orban's government because most EPP members lined up behind it.

EPP members are focusing on the immediate consequences for them, as the Article Seven process the parliament invoked is a long one.

The move is seen as unlikely to ever lead to unprecedented sanctions that would strip Hungary of its European Union voting rights, which any member state could veto.

The EPP, which holds 218 of the 750 seats in parliament, voted 115 for the move to punish Orban's government to 57 against, with 28 abstentions.

EPP leader Manfred Weber, an ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, threw his weight behind the vote even if he did not instruct colleagues to follow suit.

Dutch Greens MEP Judith Sargentini praised Weber's "very responsible" example for swaying the vote in favour of the motion she sponsored.

She said he did the right thing to trumpet...