The President of the European People's Party (EPP), Joseph Daul, has issued a new warning against the temptation to vote populist or Europhobic on Thursday 9 May, two weeks before the European elections, saying that "we cannot build Europe's future on a programme of destruction”.
"As the elections approach, it’s important that we remember what we have built together and beware of the populists who want to destroy all that we have achieved in the past 70 years," said the former French MEP, who was speaking from Sibiu at the EPP summit before the informal meeting of heads of state and government (see other news). According to him, his political family will not form an alliance with the extreme right after the European elections to block the left.
This meeting of EPP leaders took place again without the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, whose Fidesz party was suspended from the European Party in March (see EUROPE 12218/8). On Wednesday, Mr Daul had considered excluding Mr Orbán, who withdrew his support for the EPP's top candidate (Spitzenkandidat), Germany's Manfred Weber, in the run-up to the presidency of the European Commission, and who continues to show himself with far-right leaders (see EUROPE 12250/4).
Asked by Le Soir about the interest in Michel Barnier's profile as President of the Commission, Mr Weber said that these rumours had "no impact" on his campaign. "The EPP would be seen as a ridiculous institution if they were to throw away the internal election process”, he added.
At the end of 2018 in Helsinki, Mr Weber was nominated as Spitzenkandidate of the Christian Democrats at the expense of the Finnish Alexander Stubb. Too involved in the Brexit negotiations, Mr Barnier had not participated in the primaries. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)