Juncker warns von der Leyen against cooperation with right-wing conservatives
Published: Saturday, May 18th 2024, 13:00
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Former EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has warned his successor Ursula von der Leyen against possible cooperation with the right-wing conservatives in the European Parliament. There can be no common future with many of the parties that are "flocking together" in the Group of European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), Juncker told the Swiss newspaper "Tages-Anzeiger".
The Luxembourger emphasized: "A coalition with the Polish Pis or Viktor Orban's Fidesz must not be allowed to go unchallenged." As a member of the European People's Party, which also includes the CDU and CSU, he would vigorously oppose "such a slide into the right-wing corner". "I hope that the firewall will not really crumble," said Juncker.
The ECR Group includes the far-right party of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Fratelli d'Italia. The national conservative Polish ruling party PiS is also a member. The MEPs of the Fidesz party from Hungary are not members of the ECR Group.
Von der Leyen recently did not rule out cooperation with the ECR for a possible second term of office after the European elections in June. "It depends very much on how the Parliament is made up and who sits in which political group," she said at the end of April. If the former German defense minister wants to head the Brussels authority again, she must be confirmed by the EU Parliament after the European elections.
©Keystone/SDA
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