European Parliament: Is the cordon sanitaire against the far right holding?

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A cordon sanitaire is still in place in the European Parliament against far-right and radical right groups, or at least… some of them.

Among the 14 elected vice-presidents are two members of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).

However, none come from theEurope of sovereign nations or some Patriots for Europeeven if, for the latter, it is the third group in the hemicycle.

The reason: other groups refused to vote for the patriotic candidates, former Frontex chief Fabrice Leggeri and Czech MP Klára Dostálová.

“The political parties and groups that basically want to destroy this Parliament, that want to weaken the European Union, and that campaigned on abolishing the EU, leaving the EU, should have no responsibility in the European Union, should have no responsibility here in the European Parliament.“, declared Daniel Freund, German MEP (Greens/EFA), at the microphone of Euronews.

“If your political goal is to destroy this Parliament, you should not be in charge of running this Parliament. And that is why we are implementing the cordon sanitaire.” he explains.

However, this strategy is considered a violation of democracy by far-right MEPs.

“I did not decide that the Patriots Group was the third largest group in the European Parliament, but the voters decided that. Therefore, going against the will of the Europeans, a will democratically expressed by millions of European voters, represents an enormous assumption of responsibility, as well as a lack of respect.“, denounces Paolo Borchia, Italian MEP (Patriots for Europe).

Five of the new vice-presidents of the Parliament come from the Socialists, three from the EPP, two from Renew and ECR, one from the Greens and one from the Left.