MEP Charlie Weimers says his party has had to consider ‘other options’ in light of Orbán’s stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The mere specter of Viktor Orbán is causing ructions on the right wing of the European Parliament.

Leading Sweden Democrats lawmaker Charlie Weimers suggested in written comments to POLITICO’s EU Election Playbook on Friday that he could pull his MEPs out of the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group if Orbán’s Fidesz MEPs join up.

Orbán himself has openly expressed a desire to join the ECR — dominated by Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy and Poland’s Law & Justice party. The former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has also said he’s open to bringing in Fidesz. Meloni and Orbán have developed close ties at the European Council, with the Italian prime minister increasingly seen as a bridge between Budapest and Brussels.