Page 93 - The Voyage of Hungarian Christian Democracy - Edited by Mária Rita Kiss

the KDNP’s opponent factions met in Bratislava on 18 April. The meeting was brokered by
the EUCD and was closed with a declaration on reconciliation. However, once he returned to
Hungary, chairman György Giczy said to the press that he did not regard the declaration
binding. As evidenced by a letter from EUCD chairman Wim van Velzen to György Giczy,
that was the moment when Giczy’s side lost credibility before the EUCD. Velzen even
questioned the honesty of Giczy’s intent to negotiate and called the Bratislava meeting a
campaign trick before the upcoming KDNP congress. Then the EUCD Council excluded
430
the KDNP from the international organization in 11 July 1997, citing the KDNP’s potential
cooperation with the MIÉP as the immediate reason, and the fact that the party did not
distance itself from the possibility of such cooperation. As Velzen wrote, “the KDNP, a party
that declares itself as Christian democrat and that is a member of the European organization of
Christian democratic parties, assumed a moral commitment with its EUCD membership. If a
party violates this moral commitment, it displaces itself from the group that accepts and observes
these commitments. A party like this does not belong to the family of European Christian
democrats anymore.” The exclusion from the EUCD was huge reputation damage for the
431
KDNP, not to mention the domestic policy impact that ultimately ended with the dissolution
of the party’s parliamentary faction after a series of exclusions from the party. The European
family of Christian democratic parties took back the KDNP only in 2007, long after Hungary’s
accession to the European Union and years after the party’s situation got settled.

IV. European integration

Like other Hungarian parties after the change of the political system in the country, the
KDNP was also seeking opportunities to join West European party alliances. While links to
Western parties proved immeasurably valuable in terms of setting an example and standards,
European institutions alone did not guarantee a successful performance in domestic policy: in
this sense, international relations do not have a direct impact. As shown by the KDNP’s
history after the political system change, close connections based on shared European values
may only inspire and support internal development but cannot substitute for it. However,
Hungary’s accession to the European Union brought a significant change in international
relations, opening up the underlying opportunities to the KDNP as well.

The general anticipation regarding East Central European parties was that the
European integration of the respective countries would weaken those parties that stood out
from the ideological landscape of European party families and that parties organized at
European level, i.e. the “Euro-parties” would assist “standard” parties. Even though opposite
examples may exist, this impact was indeed detectable. According to analyses prepared after
EU accession, more and more parties strove to align themselves to a European party group.

430 “The ambivalence of your commitment expressed in the Hungarian press created serious doubts about the true reason why you wanted to reconcile with
the EUCD before your party Congress.” Letter from Wim van Velzen to György Giczy, 4 September 1997. In Bequest of Zoltán K. Kovács. MNL OL P 2264 Item
41.
431 “The KDNP, a party which declares itself Christian Democratic and which is a member of a European organisation of Christian Democratic parties, accepted a
moral obligation with the EUCD membership. If a party breaks that moral obligation, it places itself outside the group of parties who do accept this
commitment. Such a party does not belong anymore to the Christian Democratic European family.” Ibid.

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