“I don’t see the sense,” said Halicki, who hails from Poland’s center-right Civic Platform party, led by Polish Prime Minister and former EPP leader Donald Tusk.
Weber and his German delegation have led a push to work with parts of the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists group, notably Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, to advance their legislative agenda.
The EPP also has not shied away from courting votes from the far-right Patriots for Europe and Europe of Sovereign Nations groups, defying the unspoken cordon sanitaire that previously made such maneuvers taboo.
When asked by POLITICO, Weber’s spokesperson insisted the EPP remained committed to building a stable majority with S&D and Renew. Being “pro-EU, pro-Ukraine, and pro-rule of law” were the EPP’s core principles for collaboration, the spokesperson said.
Fragmented ranks
Weber’s supporters argue the European election results gave the EPP a mandate to push through their conservative policy priorities even if that means using the far right to get them approved.
“[W]e may have to look in Parliament where we can find a majority for our line. It is about content,” said Swedish lawmaker Tomas Tobé, a close ally of Weber. “We will not abandon what we believe are the right policies.”
