French MEP Pascal Durand left the Parliament’s Renew Europe group over strong personal disagreements, he said on Wednesday, adding that he stands opposed to the Swedish Liberals’ presence in the group despite their agreement with the far-right at a national level.
Durand officially left the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament to join the S&D (Socialists and Democrats) due to major personal disagreements over the presence of the Swedish Liberals within the group.
After parliamentary elections in September, the Swedish Liberal Party signed a coalition agreement together with the Christian Democrats and the Moderates. Their coalition agreement is supported by the far-right Sweden Democrats who, while not in government, got most of their migration policy through.
For Durand, the association of the Swedish Liberals with a far-right party founded by neo-nazis is “sending the wrong message” and contrary to what the centrist European values are.
“It seemed to me absolutely essential that Renew, the centrist group, should be a wall protecting us from this drift from the right to the far-right,” he said on Wednesday, adding that “as time went by, we were caught up in a dangerous trend, a kind of false pragmatism, that justifies all alliances in the name of the need to govern.”
Durand regretted that Renew’s statutes were not changed internally to allow for more disciplinary measures against the Swedish Liberals, arguing that he would have “lost that vote internally.”
According to him, the ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) party to which the Swedish Liberals belong “closed ranks on the issue.”
He was however thankful for the fact that Renew Europe’s secretary general, Stéphane Séjourné expressed his reservations about the Swedish government agreement.
“I regret the agreement and the direction it is taking. There are always other options: from a pro-European government to new elections. A government with the far right cannot have our blessing,” Séjourné said after the Swedish government agreement was signed.
EURACTIV contacted the Swedish Liberals’ headquarters, but no response was received.
Renew Europe and far-right
Contacted by EURACTIV, Renew Europe echoed the words of its French delegation’s statement, saying that the group was aware and concerned about the links the Swedish Liberals have with the far-right on the national level and acted on it.
“The Swedish Liberals have been suspended from all activity within Renew Europe – a decision that has never been taken by other groups in the European Parliament in the same situation,” the statement reads.
But Pascal Durand disagreed. According to him, Karin Karlsbro, the only Swedish Liberal MEP in Renew “is still there, she still works in the group, she votes in the group, she speaks for the group. So it’s not a suspension,” he said, adding that in fact, Karlsbro is “just not invited to Renew’s events anymore.”
Karlsbro told EURACTIV that the support for her and her party in the group “remains strong,” irrespective of Durand’s decision to leave Renew Europe, echoing a Renew spokesperson who confirmed that Karlsbro is a well-liked MEP and that “no one has any doubts about her beliefs.”
Renew Europe will also organise a colloquium dedicated to the far-right next Thursday, with the aim to “make it possible to set clear rules for participation in our parliamentary group in 2024, with a red line concerning the impossibility of any alliance, near or far, with a party of the extreme right,” according to the French delegation’s statement.
If applied to the 2024 European elections, this measure would address one of Durand’s significant concerns.
“I hope that beyond the words, there will be a conditionality that there is not the slightest link with the far-right within this group,” he said, stressing, however, that at that stage, nothing concrete has been done in this regard.
(Charles Szumski | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
