European Parliament: “EPP endangers democratic ability to work,” warns Strack-Zimmermann after researching discussion groups | EUROtoday

As not too long ago as December he denied working with “right-wing radical parties”. “The firewall is up. We know who our enemies are,” EPP parliamentary group chief Manfred Weber informed the Funke media group. But based on latest dpa analysis, the CDU and CSU faction is cooperating rather more intently with representatives of the AfD and different right-wing events. Politicians from each factions are mentioned to have labored on authorized texts in joint discussion groups.

In view of the revelations, FDP politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann expressed sharp criticism of the European People’s Party. It is a “serious political mistake” to work on legal guidelines with representatives of the AfD or the parliamentary group Patriots for Europe (PfE). “With forces that want to undermine Europe from within, you cannot organize majorities in the democratic center of the European Parliament,” complained the protection politician in an article on Platform X.

Strack-Zimmermann, who was elected to the European Parliament because the FDP’s high candidate in 2024, was notably harsh on the EPP parliamentary group chief. “Manfred Weber has expressly denied structural cooperation with right-wing extremists in the past,” she recalled in her publish. “If there have been chat groups, negotiation meetings and the adoption of suggestions from this camp, then exactly this contradiction is in the room.”

“Anyone who publicly calls for democratic cooperation and behind the scenes flashes dangerously to the right massively damages trust,” she continued. In doing so, the EPP is “de facto terminating the reliable cooperation of the pro-European forces”, thereby endangering the “democratic ability of this house to work”.

Green politician Erik Marquardt joined the criticism. “Incorporating right-wing extremists into democratic processes will be the beginning of the end for liberal democracies in Europe,” mentioned the previous federal spokesman for the Green Youth to the dpa. The Christian Democrats are thereby “incurring a heavy historical guilt.”

The Bundestag member Heidi Reichinnek spoke in Hanover on the state occasion convention of the Lower Saxony Left in regards to the alleged proximity of Union MPs to the “damn Nazi shop” AfD. The Union has not solely “torn down the firewall,” it’s also “openly flirting with right-wing extremists,” complained the chairwoman of the left-wing parliamentary group within the Bundestag. She has to “at some point ask herself which side of history she really wants to be on.”

But there was additionally criticism of the agreements within the European Parliament from Union circles. “It is clear to the CSU: There is no cooperation with the AfD. Neither in Bavaria, nor in Germany, nor in Europe,” defined CSU General Secretary Martin Huber to “Bild”.

In “Focus,” Thomas Röwekamp known as for “immediate and complete clarification and consequences” after the analysis. “Collaboration and consultation – in whatever form – is a serious violation of the Union’s resolutions, which prohibit any kind of content and organizational agreements,” insisted the CDU member of the Bundestag.

CSU politician and EPP parliamentary group chief Manfred Weber, nevertheless, just isn’t conscious of any guilt. “The AfD plays no role in the majorities and the content. As group leader, I set the strategy. But I don’t control the chat groups of employees,” he defined in an interview with “Bild”.

He additionally criticized the SPD members of the European Parliament for deviating from the black-red line in Berlin. “We are enforcing a position here that is also represented by the federal government,” he mentioned. “It is incomprehensible to me why the European SPD is thwarting this. The SPD in the European Parliament is completely stabbing the election campaigners in Rhineland-Palatinate in the back; they want to make the return of rejected asylum seekers virtually impossible.”

AfD politician René Aust appeared triumphant to “Bild”. “The AfD has a say in future migration policy in Europe,” defined the chairman of the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) group, confirming the analysis into agreements with the EPP. “In the EU Parliament, reason is returning: cooperation across party lines instead of hiding behind firewalls. Where the AfD has a say, things will be better for the citizens: whether tax cuts in Thuringia or – as now – simplified deportations throughout Europe!”