The fate of the German party Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) - whether or not it will be reintegrated into the Identity and Democracy political group in the European Parliament - was not decided when the leaders of the leaders of the member parties of the ID party met on Wednesday 12 June, in Brussels.
According to one source, the Rassemblement National wants to wait until after the French parliamentary elections, on 7 July, before making a decision. There would appear to be two reasons for this: the risk of the RN being attacked over its decision to reintegrate the AfD when it had it excluded from the ID group a few weeks ago, and also a question of feasibility, when the French do not have minds on Brussels at this time of national campaigning.
The ID party has not decided to exclude the AfD, which, according to one source, is “a very good sign” regarding a possible return to the group.
On Thursday, however, AfD co-leader, Alice Weidel, told AFP that her party would continue to “explore options for alternative alliances”, saying she was “fairly confident” about the way ahead.
In addition, the MEP elected for the Estonian party EKRE, Jaak Madison, has since left the party, and it is not yet clear whether or not he will remain in the group and whether or not EKRE, also a member of the ID party, will agree to Mr Madison remaining in the group.
On Thursday, ID was also wondering about the future of the MEPs who are or were members of Reconquête. Four of the five MEPs elected under the Reconquête banner have been expelled from the party. Will the five MEPs remain within the ECR or will the four MEPs excluded from Reconquête - including Marion Maréchal, who is close to Giorgia Meloni - remain in the group and will Sarah Knafo, still with Reconquête, leave it? Or will it be the other way round? The ID group might be interested in getting the excluded person or persons back.
There are currently no new arrivals at ID. One source regretted on Wednesday that ID members had not canvassed ahead of the elections for new members, particularly Fidesz. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)