The next European Parliament will have more hard-right members than ever before, occupying close to a quarter of the 720 seats.

A rising political newcomer in Hungary is seeking to capitalize on a scandal that rocked the party of the country's long-serving prime minister, Viktor Orbán, and a slumping economy to challenge the leader in upcoming European Union elections and beyond.

Hungary’s long-serving government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán faces a rare political crisis after the president resigned amid public anger over her pardoning of a man convicted in a child sexual abuse case.

Hungary’s conservative president has resigned amid public outcry over a pardon she granted to a man convicted as an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case.

Lawmakers from the party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán have boycotted an emergency session of parliament where a vote was scheduled to place Sweden’s bid to join NATO on the legislative agenda.

The Hungarian parliament has refused a proposal to hold a vote on Sweden’s bid to join NATO, further delaying the Nordic country’s inclusion in the military alliance.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban has declared victory in Sunday’s national elections, claiming a mandate for a fourth term as a partial vote count gives a strong lead for his right-wing party.

The European Union’s executive is working past a Monday deadline to assess Hungary pandemic recovery plan and unlock EU grants and loans amid allegations it might not to meet all the requirements to tap into the funds.

Hungarian lawmakers have approved legislation that prohibits sharing with minors any content that portrays or promotes homosexuality or sex reassignment.

Protesters and human rights officials have urged lawmakers in Hungary to reject legislation banning any content portraying or promoting homosexuality or sex reassignment to anyone under 18.

Hungary’s conservative ruling party has prepared new legislation that bans showing pornographic material or any content portraying sex reassignment or homosexuality to anyone under 18.

The right-wing Fidesz party has held a two-thirds majority in Hungary’s parliament almost uninterrupted since 2010. In a letter Wednesday to Manfred Weber, chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament, Orban announced Fidesz’s decision to leave the group. Ad“The amendments to the rules of the EPP Group are clearly a hostile move against Fidesz and our voters ... AdIn a tweet, Hungary’s minister for family affairs and a Fidesz vice-president, Katalin Novak, confirmed Fidesz’s decision to leave the EPP Group. Instead, the EPP Group sat by and watched while Orban’s anti-democratic government attacked European citizens’ freedoms again and again.”

Human rights and LGBT groups have condemned an amendment to Hungarys constitution approved on Tuesday that effectively bans adoption for same-sex couples and enshrines a strict Christian conservative ideology into the legal conception of the family. (AP Photo/MTI, Imre Foldi, file)BUDAPEST – Human rights groups on Wednesday condemned a new Hungarian law that effectively bans adoption for same-sex couples and applies a strict Christian conservative viewpoint to the legal definition of a family. Same-sex marriage was constitutionally banned in Hungary in 2012, but civil partnerships are recognized. However, the new amendment declares that only married couples may adopt children, effectively barring same-sex couples or single individuals from doing so. Luca Dudits, a spokesperson for LGBT rights group Hatter Society, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the new amendment violates international human rights norms.

Szajer acknowledged Tuesday that he had attended the Brussels party, but he did not comment on its nature. After what happened, he made the only correct decision by apologizing and resigning from the European Parliament and leaving Fidesz,” Orban said. In a statement, the prosecutor’s office later said police found about 20 people in the apartment. The prosecutor’s office added that a third man was arrested after a passer-by told police he had tried to escape. It is possible that he may have been injured while fleeing,” the prosecutor’s office said, adding that police found drugs in the man’s backpack.

The Brussels prosecutor’s office confirmed to The Associated Press that police ended a lockdown party in a downtown Brussels flat on Friday evening after they were called because of a night-time disturbance. The office did not confirm that it was a group sex party and a Brussels police spokeswoman declined to comment. In a statement, the prosecutor's office later said police found about 20 people in the apartment. After police checked their identities, two partygoers invoked diplomatic immunity,The prosecutor's office added that a third man was arrested after a passer-by told police he tried to escape. It is possible that he may have been injured while fleeing," the prosecutor's office said, adding that police found drugs in his backpack.

The legal opinion of Advocate General Eleanor Sharpston is not legally binding but such recommendations are usually followed in the rulings by the European Court of Justice. Although not legally binding, such recommendations are usually followed by the European Court of Justice. The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland took in almost none over the two years the system was in operation. But the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland took in almost none over the two years the scheme was in operation. Sharpston's opinion is not legally binding, but such recommendations are usually followed by the European Court of Justice.