“In short, something is going to happen, there is a certain tension within the European People’s Party (EPP). I think the number of people who want change is not so small. My assessment is that these forces that are pushing for a change in the direction of the EPP should be able to succeed. The only question is whether this will happen now – but if not, it will certainly happen in the future,” believes commentator Miran Videtič.
Since the last European elections, we have seen a marked turn to the right of the European People’s Party. Manfred Weber, who has been at the helm of the EPP since 2022, has retained his position, and it is also worth noting that Slovenian MEP Romana Tomc, from the largest opposition party – Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS), has been elected to the post of one of the ten vice-presidents of the largest political group in the European Parliament, the European People’s Party. As she has announced, she will represent “the clear conservative wing of the EPP.” It is also worth noting that Slovenia has five MEPs in this group.
A cuckoo’s egg in the EPP’s nest
However, in the case of the current President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who is also an MEP from the EPP, we have not seen this attitude. There has been a rather obvious swing to the left, and her policies would be more likely to be attributed to socialists or liberals, as opposed to, for example, the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR). Her actions, particularly to the detriment of the European economy (the so-called “green religion”) and her inaction on the migrant issue, have angered many Europeans.
Analyst Miran Videtič shared his view on the direction of the EPP’s development for our web portal, saying: “Immediately after the results were announced, interesting things started to happen. Perhaps the most interesting were two statements by senior representatives of the EPP, namely Ursula von der Leyen and the Secretary-General, who somehow rushed through their statements in an attempt to “frame” the continuation of the EPP’s political path – saying that they do not get along with the “extremes”. I think this was done a bit too soon, because both von der Leyen and the Secretary-General were, after all, representing a position, although we don’t yet know whether it was the position of a majority …”
Serious doubts about further cooperation with the socialists and liberals
However, the EPP has serious misgivings about continuing to work with the socialists and liberals, which is, in fact, quite logical. The latter have experienced a real fiasco in the elections, and the same happened to the socialists – but perhaps to a lesser extent. On the other hand, the ECR (which Videtič does not even see as extreme) is now even more established than before. Giorgia Meloni is not an
extreme in his opinion, either. Videtič: “In short, something is going to happen, there is a certain tension within the European People’s Party. I think the number of people who want change is not so small. And the talks are not going all that smoothly either.”
“If von der Leyen will be exclusionist in her actions, she may well be excluded herself”
In the European Union, everyone is also waiting for the elections in the United States of America to happen, as they are an indication that trends are changing in the world. “We would reverse this “slightly woke or progressive direction” into some normality.” As a result, there would not be “all that much” room for the socialists in the EU either, in the next European government, and the liberals would at least have to change “some of their positions,” since over the years, they have taken a hard left position. “My assessment is that these forces that are trying to change the direction of the EPP could succeed.”
“The only question is whether this will happen now – but if not, it will certainly happen in the future,” Videtič believes. The fact is that a continuation of von der Leyen’s policies and her line would drive more voters away from the EPP, who would vote even further to the right. The EPP will therefore have to take some steps, at least on the following: the “crazy” green transition, illegal migration and demography. Von der Leyen is, of course, defending her own position and that of the key backbenches that guide her. She also uses the rhetoric of exclusion, which is quite unusual for the EPP. Videtič believes that ” If von der Leyen will be exclusionist in her actions, she may well be excluded herself.”
Domen Mezeg
