If a Social Democrat-led government is formed in Berlin in the near future, which is increasingly expected, Ljubljana will become the westernmost European capital of the center-right movement, which is very uncomfortable for the party family that has dominated EU politics for decades.
The future of the European People’s Party (EPP) is bleak, according to Politico,which is usually positive about the shift to the left of the party family, which defines itself as a centre-right political force. In an analysis published yesterday, the Brussels-based news portal pointed out that EPP MEPs, once the strongest political force in the European Union, had been in office in just 13 days for the last days of their most experienced leader, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the sudden departure of former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, the brightest new star in her party family. have experienced.
Christian democracy is not a supermarket
The newspaper recalls that the party alliance of the Christian Democratic Union and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) lagged behind the Social Democrats in the Bundestag elections in September.
so it is almost inevitable that the EPP will soon lose control of the German government, which has been its main source of influence so far.
Slovenia remains the EPP’s westernmost bastion
It is therefore in vain that the party family has dominated EU politics for decades, that it is still the largest group in the European Parliament and that Merkel’s pupil Ursula von der Leyen is at the head of the European Commission. The EPP has only nine of the bloc’s 27 heads of state and government in its ranks, and
if Berlin, as is increasingly expected, forms a Social Democrat-led government in the near future, Ljubljana will become the most conservatively led European capital.
– recalled the news portal, referring to Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, an important ally of Hungary.
“At the moment, if we look at the member states, we are not represented in enough governments,” a Northern European MP complained to Politico.
Kurz’s starburst has left a big scar in the party family
A politician, who did not want to be named, said that many in the party family saw Kurz as a line to follow:
“Be tough on migration and other issues that are important to voters, but show that he is modern and progressive and serious about climate change, for example.”
Kurz’s resignation is problematic to say the least.
– stressed the mep.
Among those who looked to Sebastian Kurz as a role model was Manfred Weber, the veteran EPP politician who was re-elected on Wednesday by an overwhelming majority – though not unanimously – as leader of the party family. The politician, who also holds the office of deputy CSU chairman, also announced that he would run next April for the presidency of the party family, which has become vacant due to the resignation of Donald Tusk.
Manfred Weber, a symbol of problems?
According to analysts, Weber’s re-election is a sign that the German party alliance wants to remain the leading people’s party in Europe. However, some believe that the Bavarian politician is more of a symbol of problems than a key to reviving the future of the party family.
By insisting on the position of group chairman and even claiming the presidency, he is increasingly giving the impression that he is putting his own interests first in order to prevent a bloodbath.
Source: Magyar Nemzet, By Loretta Tóth
