Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s announcement of the formation of a new far right alliance at the European Parliament with two more European partners points to an effort to carve out a larger role coinciding with Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the EU.

The Orban government’s foreign and domestic policies will continue to be under the EU’s scanner, as it seeks to ramp up pressure on Russia for precipitating the worst security crisis that Europe is witnessing after the Second World War.