2023-12-12 11:38:12
Manfred Weber has entered the press room of the European Parliament, in Strasbourg, celebrating that the political family he presides over, the European PP, has just won a new Government, that of Poland. Indeed, this Monday Donald Tusk, former president of the European Council and the European PP, became Polish prime minister against the extreme right and thanks to the support of the entire opposition, including the social democrats and greens.
Weber, who unlike Tusk has sponsored pacts with the extreme right, such as those of Forza Italia with Giorgia Meloni or those of the Spanish PP with Santiago Abascal, tried to explain his position this Tuesday: “All the allies we work with must be, firstly, pro-European, that is, constructive at the European level; They must be pro-Ukraine and pro-Israel, at this moment in history; and they must be pro-rule of law. And these three key criteria define our firewall towards the far right.”
In this sense, Weber, of German origin, has included the requirement of being pro-Israel at a time when the Tel Aviv Government has killed more than 16,000 Palestinians with its indiscriminate bombings on Gaza after the Hamas attack on October 7, which caused 1,200 deaths.
“Thus, any type of conversation with the AfD is unthinkable,” Weber said about the extreme right in his country: “With Le Pen it is unthinkable. This is unthinkable. There is an agreement within the EPP on this type of firewall. And we put it into practice.”
“I see the European People’s Party as very obsessed with attacking a progressive government that is carrying out European policy and that is advancing in all areas of the fight against climate change, digitalization, the social dimension and the European social pillar,” said the president. of the socialists in the European Parliament, Iratxe García.
García added: And while the Spanish Presidency and the Government of Spain are working on this European policy, what Mr. Weber is doing is increasingly deteriorating the rule of law in the European Union with his alliances with the extreme right. I have not heard Mr. Weber say anything regarding Mr. Abascal’s claims that at some point citizens would want to see the president of the government hanging by his feet. It is totally unacceptable. Mr. Weber’s silence on this issue is totally shameful, protecting his allies on the extreme right, trying to put up a smokescreen with the excuse of the rule of law: the rule of law in the European Union is defended by putting a stop to extreme right, and that is what Mr. Weber should be worrying about.”
Meeting with Puigdemont
On the eve of a debate with the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, this Wednesday in Strasbourg, which points to a fundamentally Spanish exchange agitated by the right regarding the amnesty law, Weber explained his meeting with Carles Puigdemont at an event from Politico a few days ago in Brussels.
“Just to clarify,” Weber said, “this meeting was not a planned meeting. It was not an arranged appointment. It was simply in the hallway, at a Politico event. There were many journalists, who observe everything, and there is total transparency. I have no mandate. And I do not speak with Puigdemont about any type of Spanish affairs. That’s not my job, that’s not my role. But I tell you that I was surprised by the message I received from him, which told me that all considerations and conversations are possible. This message, reported by Politico, is a message of massive instability from the current government. So if Sánchez is trusting these partners, it is a problem.”
The leader of the European PP has insisted: “Again, I have no role, I have no mandate, and I will not intervene in any type of national policy. “That depends on colleagues on the ground.”
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