Former
Czech PM Andrej Babiš quits liberal Renew group in EU Parliament
Renew set to
lose another 7 seats in EU Parliament, but do away with long-running headache.
Andrej
Babiš' announced that his MEPs will leave the liberal Renew Europe group in the
European Parliament |
JUNE 21,
2024 11:36 AM CET
BY EDDY WAX
AND KETRIN JOCHECOVÁ
BRUSSELS —
Andrej Babiš’ MEPs will leave the liberal Renew Europe group in the European
Parliament, he announced at a press conference Friday.
His Action
of Dissatisfied Citizens party (ANO), which came first in the EU election in
the Czech Republic, has been a key player in the centrist faction, which is
dominated by Emmanuel Macron’s MEPs and those of other liberal parties such as
the Dutch VVD of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
“It was
decided yesterday. We are leaving Renew because we cannot fulfill our program
there. And we don’t want to betray our voters,” Ondřej Knotek, an MEP from ANO
who was re-elected in June, told POLITICO.
ANO is also
set to quit the pan-European umbrella family of liberal parties known as ALDE.
“Renew and
ALDE have different positions to the ANO movement,” Babiš said at the press
conference.
In a
statement, ALDE said: “While regretting that the ANO party has chosen a path
taking them further from liberal values, the ALDE Party and its partners in the
European Parliament remain united in our mission to promote our liberal values
and we shall continue to do so, reflecting the trust invested in us by voters.”
Babiš has
long been at odds with many in the liberal family as he has veered into
populism and spoken out vehemently against the European Green Deal and the EU’s
policy on migration.
“We went to
the elections to fight illegal migration, to change the Green Deal, which is
destroying our European industry and agriculture and is having a negative
impact on our citizens,” Babiš said.
His decision
to quit will likely come as some relief to those on the more socially
progressive side of Renew, including Macron’s MEPs. This week, a letter sent by
the five MEPs from the pan-European Volt to party members remarked that one of
the reasons they preferred joining the Greens rather than Renew was that the
“populist” party of Babiš was at the time a member of Renew.
Renew
President Valérie Hayer said in a statement: “This was a divorce that was long
overdue. ANO has chosen a populist path that is incompatible with our values
and identity.”
But losing
ANO will be another numerical blow to the Renew group, as the Czech party won
seven seats in the EU election. It will make it extremely difficult for Renew
to again become the third-biggest group in Parliament, a spot recently stolen
by the hard-right European Conservatives and Reformists group. That means Renew
could get hold of fewer prestigious legislative roles in the next Parliament,
which kicks off in mid-July.
It is
unclear where ANO will end up in the European Parliament. The other groups that
are viable options are already populated by rival Czech parties who are
unlikely to want to sit with Babiš.
This article
has been updated with comments from ALDE and Valérie Hayer.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário