Shorouk Express
Socialists at the European level have spearheaded a campaign to keep far-right parties out of decision-making in Brussels’ institutions, routinely blaming the conservative EPP and Weber for voting alongside those parties on topics such as green policy and migration.
Now, their Romanian colleagues are putting the group’s credibility in doubt.
The leader of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group in the Parliament, Iratxe García, “cannot remain silent,” Weber said. “In the face of rising extremism across Europe, there is no room for political games.”
Simion, the hard-right leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), is on track to win the Romanian presidency on May 18 after pulling in a whopping 40 percent of the vote in last Sunday’s first round.
That result would place another Euroskeptic and Ukraine critic at the European Council leaders’ table, at a point when the European mainstream center is wobbling as the far right makes gains around the continent.
“S&D cannot keep silent about this anymore,” said Romanian MEP Dan Barna, from the centrist Renew Europe group that has also officially backed Dan. “Not endorsing Nicușor Dan is a shameful decision that goes against everything the S&D stands for in the European Parliament.”
