“In light of recent events pertaining to the announced expulsion (or exit) of the Hungarian FIDESZ Party from the European People’s Party, please allow me to share with you concerns of the Assembly for the Republic, a non-governmental organisation of Slovenian intellectuals from the traditional-liberal circle of the EPP. As this dispute resonates in the entire EU political sphere, our statement is also of public nature,” they wrote in the non-governmental organization Assembly for the Republic.
The open letter is addressed to European People’s Party, Hungarian FIDESZ Party and Member parties of EPP.
We publish the letter in full:
“Open letter to the European People’s Party and its members
In light of recent events pertaining to the announced expulsion (or exit) of the Hungarian FIDESZ Party from the European People’s Party, the “Assembly for the Republic” as a non-governmental organisation of Slovenian intellectuals from the traditional-liberal circle of the EPP has been faced the following question:
- Is the EPP losing its feel for plurality and respect for diversity among European nations? After all, FIDESZ is the most authentic representative of the Hungarian people as evidenced by its voting results.
- Is the EPP taking on the agenda of the European left and its increasingly hostile attitudes towards the classic European, namely Greek-Christian culture, and all those who show respect for both their European and national identities?
- Can the EPP no longer understand nations who suffocated under communist dictatorship for so long and still bear the consequences?
- Have we really exhausted all the opportunities and possibilities for discussion based on democratic respect for partner and with full understanding of the seriousness of the issue at hand? The departure of FIDESZ would weaken the EPP and the entire family of traditionally right parties that are the constituent foundation of the EU.
We want to believe that the entire EPP family still retains the courage, tolerance and goodwill that enabled Germany to free itself of Nazism after the Second World War and then communism after the fall of the Berlin Wall. We want to believe that at least the EPP understands former communist countries who are still working to free themselves of deeply entrenched communist mentality and non-democratic methods of political work, and that these countries can still count on the EPP for assistance when certain local media outlets and journalists who understand freedom of speech as freedom to lie publish unfounded smear campaigns through foreign press that blindly fall for their distortion of reality.
We want to believe that the EPP and all its members still remain bound to the spirit of Schuman, Adenauer and de Gaspari and their courage, tolerance and wisdom.
We are afraid that if the EPP goes down the path of internal decomposition, it will open the doors to foreign cultures and ideologies outside the Greek-Christian culture that is the foundation of human rights, human dignity and freedom.
Ljubljana, 10 March 2021
France Cukjati,
President”
Assembly for the Republic (Zbor za republiko) started in 2004 as an informal gathering of Liberal and Conservative intellectuals/politicians discussing most pressing national issues, proposing new ideas and advocating coordination of the parties which were rooted in the movement known as The Slovenian Spring and were essentially responsible for the establishment of a democratic and independent Republic. The Assembly presented a platform for the elections of 2004 and – after victory – assisted its parties to establish a stable coalition that lasted until 2008. Later, the Assembly for the Republic – on their monthly meetings – served as a forum for public debate, as an analytical and consulting organization producing programs, statements and declarations on critical political issues.
