European EPP leader sets ultimatum for Orban

Manfred Weber of the centre-right European People's Party set an ultimatum Tuesday for Hungary's populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party to avert exclusion from the group.

After months of rising tensions, Weber, the EPP's leading candidate to take over as head of the European Commission later in the year, told Germany's daily Bild he was setting three conditions to remain on board.

"Viktor Orban must stop the anti-Brussels campaigns of his government once and for all," the German politician said.

Secondly, he must "apologise to the other member parties of the EPP party family".

And finally, "it is important that the CEU university founded by (liberal US-Hungarian billionaire) George Soros remains in Budapest, that its existence be ensured there and that it is able to issue US diplomas".

In December the CEU announced it was moving most of its programmes out of Budapest to Vienna after it said it was targeted by government legislation steamrolled through parliament in 2017.

Weber said Orban has, until the end of March, "the chance to take action on these three points and to show that he values the EPP", calling them "decisive issues regarding democratic...