In a move that surprised and infuriated some, the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) suddenly decided to switch candidates at the top of its party list for the EU elections last week. Without consulting the party's only MEP, Péter Olajos, who had been considered favourite to head the list, the MDF leadership decided to nominate former finance minister Lajos Bokros instead, a member of the Socialist cabinet in the 1990s.

"The controversies and the internal struggles for power which shadowed the life of the MDF have now entered a stage where they can lead to irreversible changes," Olajos said, objecting to the fact that the decision was taken while he was at an ACP-EU meeting in Guyana.