Transparency International is demanding an investigation against five far-right MEPs, including Gál Kinga from Fidesz and Ernő Schaller-Baross, after the costs of a trip to New York last year were not accounted for, The Guardian reports.
The MEPs attended the New York Young Republican Club (NYYRC) event in December 2023, at which Donald Trump also appeared. In addition to the two Fidesz politicians, those involved are: German AfD MEP Maximilian Krah, Italian League politician Susanna Ceccardi, and Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) Harald Vilimsky. The latter did not respond to The Guardian’s inquiries, while the former four – including the two Fidesz MEPs – denied that they had committed a violation. They claimed that the trips were financed by their government, their party, and their parliamentary groups.
At the gala, delegates paid between $699 and $1,399 to be treated to a multi-course French dinner and top-shelf drinks by Donald Trump. In his approximately 80-minute speech delivered here, the since-elected American president stated that he would like to be a dictator for one day in order to “drill a wall”.
Under the European Parliament’s code of conduct, tightened in 2023 after the Qatargate scandal, MEPs are obliged to declare if a third party pays them to attend an event, including travel, accommodation and other expenses. An exception to this is if the given participation is financed by the person’s party or government.
In response to the Guardian’s question, Gál Kinga stated that Fidesz covered all the costs of his trip, while Ernő Schaller-Baross stated that he was invited to the event as the Orbán government’s ministerial commissioner responsible for foreign relations, and accordingly his expenses were paid by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Source: nepszava.hu
