On Friday 29 November, the Chairs of the EPP group, Germany’s Manfred Weber, and the Renew Europe group, France’s Valérie Hayer, called on the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) and the Union of Democrats ‘For Lithuania’(DSVL) to “immediately eject” the Dawn of Nemunas (NA) party from the new coalition government in Lithuania.
“Giving legitimacy to the party led by openly anti-Semitic leader, R. Žemaitaitis, who violated the Constitution and faces criminal charges for his anti-Semitic statements, undermines Lithuania’s democratic principles and commitment to inclusivity”, said the two leaders in a statement.
Ms Hayer and Mr Weber called on “all democratic political parties in Europe (...) to reject any alliance that would allow anti-Semitic forces to participate in government coalitions”, in the name of the European Union’s democratic and tolerant values.
The Chairs of the S&D and Greens/EFA groups reportedly refused to sign the press release so as not to criticise the member parties of their respective political families. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)