The European PP does not join the declaration of large groups against the “normalization” of the extreme right.

The European People’s Party has condemned attacks by extremists against left-wing politicians and parties in recent weeks and called for a joint declaration not to “normalize” the far right (you can consult it in English here ) ) Signed by a group of socialists, liberals, greens and the left in the European Parliament, the talks came after the beating of German socialist MEP Matthias Ecke, who required hospital care.

“The rise of radical and far-right parties in Europe is a threat to our common project, its values, and to the civil liberties and fundamental rights of citizens,” the declaration said. Violent actions against the headquarters of the PSOE in Spain, in Stockholm or against the homes of politicians in Belgium.

“We strongly condemn the increasing cases of harassment, vandalism, disinformation, defamation and hate speech being used by far-right parties in all Member States to threaten politicians, activists, journalists and European citizens every day,” the text says. In which judicial is mentioned. Investigation of the ties of some representatives of the extreme right with Russia or China. The assistant to an Alternative for Germany MP was recently arrested on charges of spying for Beijing and the MEP herself is accused of receiving payments from the Kremlin.

“We will never cooperate or form alliances with far-right and fundamentalist parties at any level. We call on the President of the European Commission and all European democratic parties to firmly reject any normalization, cooperation or alliance with radical and far-right parties, concludes the statement, which will be called upon to negotiate with the European People’s Party. There was also an attempt to request ineffective changes, such as removing signs of the extreme right, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

However, the joint statement comes in a purely pre-election context ahead of EU elections taking place between 6 and 9 June. And there is one obvious recipient of these four groups’ calls: EPP candidate and current President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who agrees with the extreme right. The Socialists and Liberals, who hold the current majority in the Community government, have made it clear that they will not support her re-election if she compromises with the German far right.