"Europe of Sovereign Nations" - AfD finds partner for right-wing group in the EU Parliament
The AfD delegation in the new European Parliament has decided, according to party leadership, to establish a common fraction with other right-wing parties in the parliament. A spokesperson for co-party leader Alice Weidel confirmed a corresponding report from "Welt". The fraction is expected to have 28 members from nine countries, 14 of whom are from the AfD. Fifteen AfD deputies sit in the new EU parliament, but the report states that Maximilian Krah, whom the delegation expelled after the European election, will not belong to the new fraction.
For a fraction formation in the European Parliament, 23 deputies from seven member states are required. The AfD proposes the name "European Sovereign Nations" (ESN) for the new partners, according to "Welt". The chairman of the Thuringian AfD delegate René Aust is expected to be the fraction leader. The establishment of the fraction is expected to be announced on Wednesday evening. Negotiations are still ongoing regarding the positions of the deputy chairpersons.
Czech Ultraright Confirm AfD Plans
The expected partners in this alliance are reportedly Reconquête from France, Confederacja from Poland, Wasraschdane (Revival) from Bulgaria, Se Acabó La Fiesta from Spain, SPD from the Czech Republic, Republika from Slovakia, Mi Hazank Mozgalom from Hungary, and the People and Justice Union from Lithuania. Successful talks on cooperation have reportedly taken place with all the aforementioned partners.
Tomio Okamura, chairman of the Czech ultraright party Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), confirmed the plans for a joint fraction formation with the AfD. "The program of the fraction is against the Green Deal, migration, and the Islamization of Europe," Okamura, 52, said according to the CTK agency. The SPD is represented by only one deputy in the new EU parliament. The nationalist Republic from Slovakia secured two seats in the European election.
New fraction significantly smaller than the large right-wing fraction of Orban and Co.
The new fraction will have to operate in the shadow of the large right-wing fraction named "Patriots for Europe" in the parliamentary proceedings of the next few years, in which the heavyweights of European right-wing politics have already united. Involved in this alliance are the right-national Rassemblement National from France, Italy's nationalist League, the FPO from Austria, and Viktor Orban's Fidesz from Hungary. This fraction is expected to have 84 deputies from twelve countries and be the third strongest, behind Social Democrats and the Center-right Alliance EVP, to which CDU and CSU also belong.
The AfD remained outside of this alliance, although they claim significant commonalities with the participating parties in terms of content. The reasons for this remained open until now. AfD leader Weidel had said that the partners in this alliance are subject to "political and also external political and economic pressures, which we currently have to take into account." In the AfD leadership, it is believed that approximately the German government could prevent Orban, in his role as Hungarian prime minister, from cooperating with the AfD.
- Alice Weidel, the co-party leader of the AfD, confirmed the party's plans to establish a common fraction with other right-wing parties in the European Parliament.
- The AfD proposes the name "European Sovereign Nations" (ESN) for the new partners, a move aimed at forming a fraction in the EU Parliament.
- Maximilian Krah, expelled from the AfD delegation after the European elections, will not belong to the new fraction in the European Parliament.
- The chairman of the Thuringian AfD delegate René Aust is expected to lead the new fraction in the European Parliament.
- Tomio Okamura, chairman of the Czech ultraright party Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), confirmed plans for a joint fraction formation with the AfD.
- The new fraction, despite having 28 members from nine countries, will operate in the shadow of the larger "Patriots for Europe" alliance in the European Parliament.
- The "Patriots for Europe" alliance, led by heavyweights of European right-wing politics, is expected to have 84 deputies from twelve countries and be the third strongest in the European Parliament.
- Viktor Orban's Fidesz from Hungary is one of the parties involved in the "Patriots for Europe" alliance in the European Parliament.
