BUDAPEST, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has written a letter to European People's Party (EPP) President Joseph Daul, warning him that the EPP's support for a deal that would make Frans Timmermans president of the European Commission (EC) would amount to a "historical mistake," official sources said here.
"The German and French leadership have made a deal on the top-jobs of the European Union ... According to this agreement Frans Timmermans would be the President of the European Commission," Orban wrote in the letter published on the website of the Hungarian government.
"The support of this deal by the EPP would be a very serious, or even a historical mistake. This would mean that a political party, which has won an election, would hand over the winning position it has fought for," Orban said, recalling that the EPP had won the European Parliament elections held at the end of May.
Orban underlined that the election of Timmermans, his political adversary, would not only be humiliating, but would "completely undermine our authority and dignity in the world of international politics."
Orban also argued that support for Timmermens's candidacy would be a "blow to the prestige of the European People's Party in the eyes of our voters."
Orban concluded by asking Daul to make all efforts to avoid such a "defeating situation."
Orban said that he would consult with the prime ministers from the EPP family "in the same spirit and with the same message."
According to media reports, Dutch left-wing politician Frans Timmermans, current vice president of the European Commission and the lead candidate of the Party of European Socialists (PES), the second largest group in the European Parliament, remains a favorite in the EU's top job race.
However, his candidacy is widely seen as opposed by some central European countries, which aim to block his nomination.
Besides Orban, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis also said on Sunday upon his arrival at a key EU summit in Brussels that he was opposed to Timmermans's candidacy.
"I'm afraid that this person is not really the right one to unite Europe," Babis said, "because in the past, we had the feeling that he was not too positive to our region. And we need some geographical balance. And I'm also asking: where are the women? We need more women."
