Spain’s ECR member VOX will not back von der Leyen

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In today’s news from The Capitals:

MADRID

The far-right VOX party will not support a second term for European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (CDU/EPP), Jorge Buxadé, the lead candidate of the Spanish ‘ultra’ party, told Spanish public media RNE on Monday, adding her group in the European Parliament almost always sides with the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) on key EU issues. Read more.

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BERLIN

EU defence spending should not cut into cohesion funds, Commissioner warns. New EU priorities, such as defence, should not come at the cost of helping poorer EU regions, European Commissioner for Cohesion Elisa Ferreira told Euractiv on Monday in Berlin. Read more.

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PARIS

French government dodges no-confidence votes as support wanes ahead of EU election. The French government survived two no-confidence votes in response to its announcement of further budget cuts on Monday, a development that threatens to erode further the already dwindling popularity of President Emmanuel Macron’s camp ahead of Sunday’s European elections. Read more.

NORDICS & BALTICS

TALLINN

EU elections in Estonia kick off with technical difficulties for online voting. The European elections began on Monday in Estonia, with people voting in person and online amid technical problems with the online voting platform. Read more.

EUROPE’S SOUTH

ATHENS

Greece’s Mitsotakis says he may be EPP’s main negotiator after EU elections. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday that he would likely be the EU centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) main negotiator after the European elections on 9 June. Read more.

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MADRID

Spain’s EU vote tainted by national topics amid warnings of far-right surge. The European campaign in Spain has been driven by sensitive national issues: Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s ruling Socialists warn of the dangerous rise of the Spanish far-right, while opposition Partido Popular (EPP) attacks what it calls the Socialists’ “surrender” to the Catalan separatists. Read more.

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ROME

Italian ministers dismiss next commissioner rumours. Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti (Lega/ID) and EU Affairs Minister Raffaele Fitto (Fratelli d’Italia/ECR) have dismissed rumours they are in the running to become the next commissioner for Italy, despite Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (Forza Italia/EPP) calling them fit for the job and media speculation about their candidacy. Read more.

EASTERN EUROPE

WARSAW

Poland’s Tusk and conservative PiS neck-and-neck ahead of EU vote. The European elections in Poland are set to be another battle between the two main rival parties, with Jarosław Kaczyński’s conservative PiS (ECR) and Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO, EPP) neck-and-neck in the polls. Read more.

NEWS FROM THE BALKANS

SOFIA

Bulgarian president hints at rethink over backing Serbia’s EU membership.  Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has hinted that Sofia may reassess support for Serbia’s EU membership because of how Belgrade treats the Bulgarian minority in the country. Read more. 

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Alice Taylor, Liene Lūsīte, Sofia Mandilara]

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