(CN) — The cordon sanitaire against the far right in Europe is fraying.
With only two weeks before crucial European elections, Europe's mainstream conservatives, grouped under the European People's Party, are coming under fire for refusing to rule out working with far-right forces.
This positioning by the center-right party is important because it is expected to remain the largest group in the European Parliament following elections, which will take place June 6 to June 9 — and it may be tempted to align with parties even further to the right, rather than renew coalitions with left-leaning, liberal and green parties.
During a final election debate on Thursday, Ursula von der Leyen, the current European Commission president and a European People's Party member hoping to stay in the top EU job, reaffirmed a willingness to join forces with far-right parties to pass legislation in the European Parliament as long as those parties advocate pro-European Union and pro-democratic views and oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I think it is very important to set very clear principles with whom we want to work,” von der Leyen said. “The first is pro-Europe; the second is pro-Ukraine, that is anti-Putin; and the third is indeed pro-rule-of-law.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the post-fascist Brothers of Italy party which is affiliated with the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament, fits this mold, von der Leyen said.
“She is clearly pro-European; against Putin, she has been very clear on that one; and pro-rule-of-law, if this holds, and then we offer to work together,” she said.
But von der Leyen rejected working with the other major far-right group in the European Parliament, Identity and Democracy, which includes National Rally, the French party led by Marine Le Pen.
On Thursday, Identity and Democracy was rocked by a decision to oust Alternative for Germany from the group over a series of scandals involving its top candidate for the EU parliament, Maximilian Krah.
In comments to an Italian newspaper, Krah refused to condemn all members of the Nazi parliamentary SS force, saying they were “not all criminals.” His remarks came after he was accused of taking Russian money to spread Kremlin propaganda and harboring a Chinese spy on his staff.
“They are friends of Putin and they want to destroy our Europe and we will not allow this to happen,” von der Leyen said about not working with National Rally and Alternative for Germany.
Polls suggest Meloni's European Conservatives and Reformists may win about 72 seats in the EU parliament and Identity and Democracy may obtain 66 seats. By comparison, the European People's Party is on track to pick up 176 seats, the center-left Socialists and Democrats 144 and the liberal Renew Europe group 82. The Greens are on pace for 41 seats and the Left 32.
The move by Identity and Democracy to boot Alternative for Germany was part of the far right's efforts to clean up its image and appear more fit to take on leadership roles. In advancing to the premiership of Italy, Meloni has proven that far-right parties can rebrand themselves and win over large swaths of voters.
Increasingly, Meloni is being viewed as a potential kingmaker in EU politics after the European elections.
In Thursday's debate, von der Leyen was repeatedly attacked for keeping the door open to the far right. The debate was among candidates picked by varying political groups to lead negotiations over who will become the next European Commission president. Commission chiefs are selected through a complex and obscure process driven by national leaders of the 27 EU member states.
Representatives from Identity and Democracy and European Conservatives and Reformists groups were excluded from the debate because both groups oppose the method the EU is using to field candidates to lead the executive branch.
“I'm ready to work with all democratic forces, but I do not consider that ECR or ID are democratic forces,” said Nicolas Schmit, the European Commission candidate for the Socialists and Democrats. “They have a very different vision of Europe.”
He pointed to recent accusations that the far-right Sweden Democrats are running a troll farm to spread its message on social media and that Meloni is going after journalists and others who oppose her politics by suing them for defamation or keeping their views off Italy's public broadcaster, Rai. The Sweden Democrats, like Meloni, are affiliated with the European Conservatives and Reformists.
“They do not correspond to the fundamental values Europe stands for,” Schmit said.
Schmit said “no alliance, no arrangement with the extreme right” must be a core tenet in EU politics.
“I think Europe is built on democracy; without democracy, there is not a real European Union and that's why we need clarity on that,” he said. “And I ask Mrs. von der Leyen, please bring clarity.”
He challenged von der Leyen over her openness toward Meloni even after the Italian prime minister spoke via video at a recent international far-right conference in Madrid hosted by Vox. In her speech, Meloni used toned-down language to accuse liberal and left-wing forces of bringing Europe into “decline.”
“I wonder what is pro-Europe for you because I heard Ms. Meloni at this Madrid conference and I cannot imagine that her idea of Europe is the same as you have,” Schmit said.
At the debate, the liberal Renew Europe group also came under attack for aligning with the far right in the Netherlands. This month, the liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy party agreed to enter a coalition government with the far-right Party for Freedom led by Gert Wilders.
Terry Reintke, the Greens candidate in the debate, urged Sandro Gozi, the Renew candidate, to kick the Dutch People's Party for Freedom and Democracy out of his group.
“I know you are very committed to the European project, so send a very clear signal now and make reality and say it has consequences when member parties of our group go into coalitions with the far right,” Reintke said.
Reintke called “the rise of the far right” Europe's biggest security risk.
“We see there are far-right politicians who want to destabilize this union,” she said. “Europe has to resist to this far-right threat.”
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.
Follow @cainburdeau
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