Relations between the European Parliament’s far-right ID group and the right-wing European People’s Party (EPP) seem to have cooled following the new addition of Eric Zemmour’s far-right party Reconquête!, with relations expected to cool even further if and when Orban’s Fidesz joins.

The Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament has a new member: MEP Nicolas Bay. First, he was a member of Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National; he then moved to Eric Zemmour’s Reconquest! After a period in the ‘non-members’ group, he joined the ECR, chaired by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (Fratelli d’Italia).

Zemmour is considered even more right-wing than Le Pen and is already frowned upon by the European People’s Party, with Foreign Minister and Vice-Premier Antonio Tajani (Forza Italia/EPP) on several occasions categorically ruling out any alliance with Le Pen as an expression of an anti-European party.

The leader of Reconquete! in the upcoming European elections will be Le Pen’s niece, Marion Maréchal Le Pen, wife of Fratelli d’Italia (ECR) MEP Vincenzo Sofo.

“The Conservatives and Reformists group is our natural family, to fight against illegal immigration, to defend Europe’s identity, to defend a balance between ecology and economic needs and national sovereignty, but also to fight against Lgbt and woke propaganda,” Le Pen commented.

Zemmour’s entry into the ECR “does not excite” even the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, which includes Matteo Salvini’s League, Meloni’s ally in Italy, and Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN), Salvini’s historical ally and friend.

“The choices of other French formations and outsiders do not interest us, and we do not enter into the matter: it is the RN that is the future of France, and with them, we work together to make our group grow again and to change this Europe that does not work,” commented ID group leader Marco Zanni (Lega).

“Many media who have long branded the ID as ‘far-right’ should perhaps do some soul-searching,” he added.

The news comes after media speculation that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party, currently not a member of any group in Brussels, could join the conservative group. Sources close to the ECR say Orban will not join the group, and ECR co-president Nicola Procaccini clarified that Fidesz has never applied for membership.

“We work, I must say, well with Fidesz MPs, but I think it will be discussed after the elections. As of today, there is no official request to join,” Procaccini said.

However, Meloni’s party, which instead seemed to be taking steps towards European leadership with several meetings with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, now appears to be moving even further to the right, complicating the balancing act that will follow the results of the European elections in June.

Sources in the EPP explain that this shift of the ECR towards the more anti-European stance embodied by the Polish Law and Justice (Pis) party, will make any form of relationship with Fratelli d’Italia very difficult.

(Federica Pascale | Euractiv.it)

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