Orpo’s barking Dem leader fears that the coalition’s EU group will open the doors of power to the extreme right | Foreign countries

BRUSSELS Iratxe García-Pérez became famous in Finland a few weeks ago when he robbed the Prime Minister who spoke in the EU Parliament Petteri Orpoa (collect.).

– Mr. Orpo, your alliance with the far right is a real threat to our democracy and our European project.

Spanish García-Pérez is the chairman of the Socialists and Democrats group of the EU Parliament.

At the time, Orpo answered in the EU Parliament that there are no extreme right-wingers in the Finnish government.

According to García-Pérez, far-right parties should not be allowed to come to power, and he also includes basic Finns in this group. He also condemned in his Orpo speech Riikka Purran (ps.) waving scissors on social media.

– These governments, in which the extreme right is involved, endanger the European project, our most important values, solidarity, justice, social dimension and global peace, says García-Pérez in an interview with .

EPP remains the kingmaker

After the European elections in June, the center-right EPP will probably continue as the largest group in the parliament, and the Social Democrats will once again survive in second place.

These two groups have often collaborated this season, as no one group can get through things alone. Compromises are being worked out with different party groups.

The Social Democrats suspect that the EPP will begin to fraternize with the nationalist ECR group and even more with the far-right ID group after the elections. Then the decisions of the EU Parliament could become more right-wing.

For example, Perussuomalaiset belongs to the ECR group. The party returned there after being in the ID group at the beginning of the season.

– The EPP normalizes the far right in institutions, in the governments of different countries, in regional administrations and here in the European Parliament. They voted together on important issues such as the Air Quality Directive, says García-Pérez.

Already this term, the EPP sided with more right-wing groups, for example, in overturning the nature restoration decree.

In EPP’s opinion, the claims are an election tactic by the Dems, and the group uses them to scare voters.

President of the EPP Manfred Weber says that the group has clear requirements for partners.

– We only cooperate with persons who respect the rule of law. We work together only with politicians who support Ukraine and who are pro-European. Others are radicals and they cannot be our partners.

Meloni is fine, Orban is not

Weber does not qualify as a partner, for example, the Prime Minister of Hungary Victor Orban, which, together with the Fidesz party, is competing for entry into the ECR group. Now the party’s MEPs do not belong to any group.

– Victor Orban is completely isolated in the European Union. He is Putin’s friend, even Putin’s puppet, when it comes to sanctions packages.

Instead, the Prime Minister of Italy belonging to the ECR group Georgia Meloni according to Weber, has been involved in, for example, jointly deciding on immigration policy.

He points out that the Greens did not support the immigration package and were therefore on the lines of the extreme right.

According to the Greens, the package was too strict for immigrants, and according to the extreme right, it was too loose.

Weber considers the growth of support for anti-EU forces in polls to be worrying. He emphasizes that the EU is his party’s project.

– The founders Adenauer, Schumann, de Gasperi were Christian Democrats like me. We will not let anti-European, nationalists destroy Christian-democratic Europe. We defend it.

He believes that his group will defeat the extreme right, as happened in Poland. In the country, the Citizens’ Forum, which is part of the EPP, got into government after the far-right Law and Justice party, which had ruled the country for eight years.

Poland has been celebrated in the EU like the return of the prodigal son. The Prime Minister is to be thanked Donald Tusk.

– He brought Poland back to the European table.

“The extreme right must be isolated”

García-Pérez, on the other hand, lumps both the ECR group and the ID group of the national conservatives into the extreme right. He doesn’t want to work with either of them.

According to him, for example, in Spain, the Vox party, which is part of the ECR group, attacks democracy.

– The extreme right must be isolated, because it has a clear idea to destroy common European values.

The ID group has the most anti-EU and pro-Russia parties. Others have not cooperated with them in the EU.

Predictions about the rise of the far-right in the EU elections are based on the rise of the parties’ support in the member countries’ elections and support surveys.

The social democrats, on the other hand, have suffered election losses in many member states.

According to García-Pérez, one of the reasons is precisely the cooperation between the center and the far right.

– We have to remember what happened in Sweden, for example, where we won the elections, but the extreme right is in the government coalition.

He thinks that the voters will soon again hope for solutions from the Social Democrats, for example for young people’s access to housing, taking care of the weakest, climate change and security.

The European elections will be held in Finland on June 9, 2024.

What do you think, in which direction is Europe moving?