It was a real case of conscience. Finally, after more than a month of reflection, the Macronist MEP, Pascal Durand decided to leave the Renew group in Brussels. This former elected Europe Ecologie-Les Verts decided to join the Social Democratic Group (S&D), where Sylvie Guillaume or Raphaël Glucksmann sit. “Leaving a group is not an easy decision that we take lightly. I don’t blame my colleagues at all, nor Stéphane Séjourné, the head of Renew. No, the situation had become unacceptable to me. And I had to leave. »
What a situation ? “This is a matter of principle. I cannot agree to sit with people who make alliances with the far right”, explains Mr. Durand. We have to go back to early October, when Sweden elected its new Parliament, which gave a right-wing majority, a gathering of four parties, including the Liberals and the Sweden Democrats, a far-right movement with a neo-Nazi past. .
In the Renew group of the European Parliament, the pro-European centrist elected representatives sit with many liberal deputies from northern Europe, including Karin Karlsbro, of the Liberalerna party. Party that accepted the support of the extreme right to govern. “I cannot accept the unacceptablecontinues Mr. Durand. For me, this goes against all my convictions, all my struggles. My parents, now deceased, who were members of the resistance, instilled in me the fight against the extreme right. »
In fact, recalls this close friend of Daniel Cohn-Bendit, “when I joined the campaign in 2019, it was for its program of defense of European values, in total opposition precisely to a narrow and nationalist vision, which promotes a Europe of nations… A Europe where the Parliament would no longer have its place “.
“My departure is a cry, pacifist, to alert! »
After the announcement of the Swedish government, Stéphane Séjourné, the boss in France of Renaissance and president of the Renew group in the European Parliament, quickly stepped up to the plate. “Our group was based on the fight against populists and the extreme right, he recalled, on October 18, in front of the press in Strasbourg. (…) The situation is absolutely unsatisfactory. »
Behind the scenes, the exchanges were stormy within the group, which has some 102 deputies, including a quarter of French. “There were meetings behind closed doors, with long, tense discussions, tears”, reports an observer. While the idea of excluding Mme Karlsbro was notably proposed by the French, Belgian or even Romanian deputies, to settle the subject, all the liberal elected representatives of Northern Europe refused such a solution en bloc. Too violent.
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