VOX leader: Meloni will remain ‘friend and ally’ after switch to Patriots for Europe

Italian Prime Minister and European Conservatives and Reformists group (ECR) leader Georgia Meloni will remain a “friend and ally” of Spain’s far-right VOX, the party chief Santiago Abascal has said, after his party decided to switch from ECR to the newly created Patriots of Europe.

VOX, the third force in the Spanish parliament after the ruling Socialists (PSOE/S&D) and the main opposition Partido Popular (PP/EPP), announced on Friday that it was leaving the ECR and joining the Patriots for Europe, led by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and which was officially launched on Monday.

VOX’s decision to join Patriots for Europe responds to a strong desire to contribute to forging a “large group” of European parties that will act “very forcefully” against “the pact” of the PSOE and PP in the European Parliament through their respective parliamentary groups, Abascal said at a press conference in Madrid, Euractiv’s partner EFE reported.

Regarding Meloni’s abstention in the re-election of Ursula von der Leyen as president of the European Commission for a second term, Abascal assured that he is in regular contact with her and that, on a personal level, there is “no disappointment” with her position on von der Leyen.

“With Giorgia Meloni, the friendship remains intact; the political alliance of VOX and Fratelli D’Italia remains intact, and VOX’s understanding of the circumstances of the Italian government and the Prime Minister is absolute and has our support”, the leader of the Spanish far-right party said.

When asked about his future relationship with Meloni now that VOX is no longer part of the ECR group, Abascal insisted that the Italian leader would remain a “friend and ally.”

He also stressed that the friendship between the two would remain as close as the one they both had with other groups “when they did not share the European Parliament group and had relations with other political parties”.

Meloni strongly endorsed VOX ahead of Spain’s general election in July 2023 and also expressed her support for Abascal’s party in a video message at the Spanish far-right formation’s conference last May, which was attended by Marine Le Pen and Argentina’s ‘libertarian’ president Javier Milei.

Meanwhile, Rassemblement National’s top candidate, Jordan Bardella, was on Monday appointed president of Patriots for Europe, the new group formed in Brussels with 84 MEPs from 12 member states, four more than originally expected.

VOX MEP Jorge Buxadé said his party colleague Hermann Tertsch would be one of the six vice-presidents of the new far-right parliamentary group, EFE reported.

In a brief statement, Buxadé underlined the group’s will to “continue to grow and to continue to unite all patriotic parties in Europe to confront this new (European) Commission (of Ursula) von der Leyen”.

(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)

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