Today we send a strong wake-up call to our friends in the EPP Group. The EPP will have to decide which direction it is going and who they will choose as their lead candidate on Wednesday. We strongly believe they should stop providing cover for Orbán.

Viktor Orbán is using EU taxpayers' money to turn people against the EU & to build his corrupted illiberal state but being a member of the EU is not just about money, Europe is a community of values. The xenophobic, anti-Semitic and anti-Brussels propaganda run by Orbán & Fidesz is contrary to our and the EPP values. The rule of law, democratic rights of the opposition, checks and balances of power and transparent finances must be respected in every EU Member State. It is an absolute scandal that the Central European University is the first university to be expelled from a European country since the Second World War. Many media have also already reported about the misuse of European funds by Orbán and his cronies. Several investigations are ongoing, by OLAF and the European Commission, and more will likely be launched. This has to stop. European funds must not be used to beef up an illiberal autocracy.

Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE Group President, commented at today's flash mob in front of the European Parliament today:

"At next year's European elections, Liberals and Democrats will lead the counter movement against right wing populists who conspire to bring the EU down & remove people's rights. To remind the EPP politicians what is at stake, this truck will drive to the EPP headquarters, to the Hungarian embassy, the Austrian embassy, to the Council and to the Commission. Together with our Hungarian liberal friends from Momentum we will show the Hungarian citizens what is going on in their country. Therefore, we will send this billboard truck also to Hungary and intensify our values campaign. It is time for pro-Europeans to take the lead. Hungarians and Europe deserve better than Orbán!"

Viktor Orbán takes European money, uses it to benefit his elite friends, but rejects our values & wants to destroy Europe. Our answer is simple: let’s stop him! #WeWantEurope pic.twitter.com/GXjxGVov9A

@guyverhofstadt sagt Victor #Orban den Kampf an. Dieses Auto fährt heute den ganzen Tag durch das Europaviertel. Stationen: die ungarische Botschaft, das Hauptquartier der Europäischen Volkspartei EVP und der Hauptsitz der EU-Kommission.#valuesfirst pic.twitter.com/rcLFAnRd0z

Orbán uses EU taxpayers' money to turn people against the EU & build a corrupted illiberal state. Here is our answer https://t.co/z9HTkojs1g