The French left and members of the government welcomed on Monday (24 July) the result of Sunday’s Spanish elections, in which the far-right Vox party lost 19 seats compared to four years ago, reducing its chances of taking part in any new government.
The elections in Spain saw the right-wing Partido popular (PPE) come out on top, with over 33% of the vote, ahead of the Socialists of outgoing Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (31.7%).
However, it is not yet clear what the outcome will be of the negotiations to choose the future prime minister and the governing majority. The French government has therefore refrained from congratulating either of the top contenders, Pedro Sánchez and PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
However, “Spain is once again showing itself to be a great democratic and European country”, said French Transport Minister Clément Beaune, formerly a minister in charge of Europe.
Spain voted “massively”, he said, “and the far-right lost 19 deputies and more than 600,000 votes”. Santiago Abascal’s Vox party, affiliated with the ECR group in the European Parliament, won 12.4% of the vote, compared to 15.1% in 2019.
Laurence Boone, the secretary of state for Europe, welcomed the results as “good news for Europe” as “the Eurosceptic Vox party is in decline”.
“Two pro-European parties [PP, PSOE] are leading the elections,” she added. “Those who shout the loudest are not always right: Europe remains important to the people.”
For both ministers, this would show that it is possible to beat the far right, which is particularly important in a context where Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National is leading the polls for the 2024 European Elections: “No fatalism, a fight never to be abandoned”, Beaune said.
However, President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist camp, which belongs to Renew Europe, could hardly rejoice at the result of its own allies, since Ciudadanos gave up running in the election following disastrous results in the regional elections.
Left-wing political forces also welcomed the decline of Vox, while the righ-wing camp has so far remained silent, including Le Pen and her Rassemblement National.
Affiliated with the Identiy & Democracy group, the French far right party is not officially an ally of Vox, which belongs to the ECR, even though Le Pen in May hailed the “spectacular breakthrough” of Santiago Abascal’s party in the local and regional elections.
At the time, she said it reflected the “establishment and consolidation of the patriotic current” in Europe to her.
In the far-right Reconquête! party of anti-immigration champion Eric Zemmour, which is not yet affiliated to any European party but is considered close to Giorgia Meloni and Santiago Abascal, non-attached MEP Nicolas Bay applauded “the very fine campaign [of Vox] in a difficult context of bipolarisation”.
According to him, “Vox represents the civilisational right in Spain, is gaining a lasting foothold and will carry a lot of weight in the 2024 European elections”.
Les Espagnols font barrage à l’extrême droite alors que Catalans et Basques détiennent la clé d’un gouvernement progressiste
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
Read more with EURACTIV
EU centre-right calls for grand coalition in SpainFollowing an inconclusive election in Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez must decide “quickly” whether he wants to join a coalition with the “extremes” or with “centrists”, a high-ranking European People’s Party (EPP) source told EURACTIV in the aftermath of Sunday’s (23 July) vote.
Source: euractiv.com
