Orbán returns from World Cup, to announce new Fides parliamentary leader

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has returned to Budapest after attending the World Cup in the United States, putting an end to public speculation about his whereabouts. Orbán announced on Facebook that he would attend a meeting of the Fides presidency and parliamentary group, and would announce a new leader for the Fides faction in parliament on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.

Orbán was reportedly spotted at Frankfurt Airport by a reader of the Hungarian transparency portal Átlátszó. Following this sighting, the Fides party's communications director, Bertalan Havasi, was asked by the Hungarian portal Telex about Orbán's return and the timing and location of the Fides presidency meeting to elect a new parliamentary group leader. Gergely Gulyás had resigned from this position the previous week.

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Party leader Viktor Orbán is in Budapest, working. We will provide information about the decisions of the presidency and the faction in due course.

Havasi confirmed to Telex that "Party leader Viktor Orbán is in Budapest, working. We will provide information about the decisions of the presidency and the faction in due course." He added, "I think Fides' internal party affairs are not of great public interest, and that is correct." Telex noted that Fides must select a new parliamentary group leader following Gulyás' resignation while Orbán was abroad. The portal also mentioned that Péter Szijjártó had resigned his parliamentary mandate and left politics.

Last week, Havasi himself stated that "the situation in the Fides party is not good at the moment, it can even be called chaotic at times." However, he attributed this to the expected aftermath of a two-thirds defeat in the parliamentary elections three months prior.

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I think Fides' internal party affairs are not of great public interest, and that is correct.