European People's Party considering 'freeze' option for Orban's Fidesz party

German conservative leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Wednesday the membership of Hungary's Fidesz party in the European People's Party (EPP) group could be suspended until trust was rebuilt. "As long as Fidesz does not fully restore trust there cannot be normal full membership," Kramp-Karrenbauer, a confidante of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, told Reuters on Wednesday.

A membership "freeze" would be an option, the leader of Germany's CDU party said. Conservative European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker told German radio he advised the centre-right EPP bloc to kick out the Fidesz party of Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban.