“The extreme right wins Europe. The century of lights goes out: it is what I call the global 1933; “The wealth distributed by the welfare state has anesthetized the European peoples and, as in the past, they react against the exoduses that they themselves have caused with their wars of conquest, calling in the Nazis,” said the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petrothrough their social networks in relation to the results of the parliamentary elections of the European Union which closed on Sunday.
(Also: What are the political effects that the results of the Parliament votes will have in Europe?)
(read here: France: President Emmanuel Macron refuses to resign ‘whatever the result’ of the early legislative elections)
Botero also warned that comparing the current situation in Europe with the rise of fascism in 1933, “Petro not only trivializes the horrors of the past, but also shows a lack of respect for modern democratic processes. The century of “The lights are not going out. Europe, despite its challenges, remains a bastion of democracy, human rights and the rule of law,” he said.
What happened in the European Union elections?
On the one hand, the European People’s Party (EPP) – conservative – won 189 seats and remains the first community force, while the Alliance of European Socialists and Democrats (S&D) – social democrat – will be the second group, with 135 MEPs. . In third place was Renew Europe (liberals) despite losing a fifth of its representatives and keeping 83 seats.
These groups that represent a pro-European vision managed to maintain the arithmetic majority despite the collapse of the liberals and environmentalists, while the far-right parties gained more seats.
This is the case, for example, of the Conservative and Reformist parties (73) and Identity and Democracy (58), which between them have 131 deputies and would be waiting for the groups’ negotiations to truly certify their capacity for real influence in the next European Parliament.
Is it true that the extreme right won in Europe as Gustavo Petro pointed out?
Added to this is that, due to the nature of these groups, which often do not have sufficient cohesion or internal structure and respond to national interests rather than their European parliamentary group, it tends to be difficult to find a stable majority to carry out legislation, although can push for concrete amendments.
And since the first main function of the new Parliament will be to approve or reject the main candidate for the most important position in Europe: the president of the European Commission, the current president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, of the EPP, tended hand in hand with social democrats and liberals to try to reach an agreement to build a new pro-European majority for the next five years of the community legislature.
So things are, The ideological inclination of the bloc will depend on the alliances that are finalized.
Why then is there alarm in some European countries about the rise of the right?
Early results suggested the National Rally would get about 32 percent of the vote, more than double that of the president’s party.
In Germany, the center-right is cruising to victory, with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in second place and overtaking socialism.
The far right is also expected to win in Hungary and pick up five more seats in the Netherlands. The centre-right was comfortably first in Greece and Bulgaria.
“This political change will reflect a demand for greater autonomy, more conservative social policies, a balanced approach to climate change and a firm stance in defense of democracy and human rights at the international level,” said Botero, highlighting that “this new scenario politics in Europe will have profound repercussions on the future direction of the continent.”
What is coming now to define the new direction of the European Parliament?
The seven groups of the European Parliament that conclude their mandate could lose members, gain them or even disappear, and new ones could appear.
Although no changes are expected in the large pro-European groups (such as popular, social democrats, liberals, or greens) there is an open question about how the ultra-conservatives and the extreme right will be reconfigured.
The formal Summit of Heads of State and Government is scheduled for June 27 and 28, in which the distribution of senior positions will return to the table.
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, wants this summit to conclude with an agreement for all the senior positions that must be renewed: the presidency of the European Commission, the head of the European Council and the high representative of the EU for Foreign Policy.
The 720 elected deputies will hold their first plenary session between July 16 and 19 in Strasbourg, a meeting that will be led by the current president, the Maltese Roberta Metsola, who still does not know if she will repeat the position. The first task of the new European Parliament is, precisely, to elect its president.
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