Nothing ‘to be ashamed of:’ EU’s center-right clashes with Socialists over far-right votes
"On some issues, I think that they are relatively sane," says top center-right Finnish lawmaker of far-right parties.
The center-right European People’s Party (EPP) is open to voting with far-right groups to achieve its policy goals, despite calls from Social Democrats and Liberals for a strict centrist coalition, according to Mika Aaltola, the Finnish EPP delegation chief. Aaltola stated that he believes some far-right perspectives are "relatively sane," while acknowledging that others are "insane."
He argued against creating a firewall to block far-right influence, suggesting that doing so would only invite "badly behaving kids" to the other side of the political spectrum. Aaltola emphasized that the majority of Parliament's votes would likely involve mainstream parties, despite the EPP's recent reliance on far-right support on issues like migration and green policy.
In response, René Repasi, leader of the German Social Democrats in Parliament, and Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, Vice Chair of Renew Europe, called for tighter coalition deals among centrist forces to prevent the EPP from leaning toward the far right. They argued that a binding, governance structure that includes more than just the party leaders would increase ownership of the agreement.
However, Aaltola dismissed this notion, stating that the political reality in the Parliament is too diverse for such a tight coalition. Renew Europe Vice Chair Gerbrandy also emphasized the importance of unity among centrist parties to address pressing issues like Ukraine, geopolitics, climate change, and the cost-of-living crisis.
He lamented that engaging far-right parties in Parliament weakens its negotiating position with EU governments on legislation, as they no longer take those positions seriously.
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