Brussels, March 7th, 2024 – With less than three months to go until the next EU elections on 6-9 June, European Coalition for Israel launched on Wednesday a pan-European campaign to inform the electorate in the 27 EU member states about the voting records of the national political parties which are currently represented in the European Parliament.
In a special 100th edition of the European report talk show on Wednesday, hosted by ECI’s Founding Director Tomas Sandell, the panellists discussed the changing political landscape in Germany which is the largest EU member state. Former co-leader of the right-wing Alternative for Germany party, Dr Jörg Meuthen explained how the party which he was involved with for many years has become radicalised to the point that he has had to leave the party altogether. As an example of this change he mentioned the lack of reactions after the terrorist attack on October 7 which was duly condemned by all parties of the political mainstream in Germany.
Mr Meuthen is not alone about his concern. Recently the controversial right-wing extremist Marine Le Pen from the National Rally in France (formerly the National Front) criticised AfD for having become too extreme even for her, implying that her party will not sit in the same political group as AfD in the new European parliament.
Meuthen’s co-panellist and chief of staff, Christopher Herrmann explained how the formerly stable and rather predictable political landscape in Germany has become fragmented in recent years spurred by extremism on both sides of the political spectrum. While the German Christian Democrats (CDU and CSU) are expected to keep their position as the largest German party in the new European Parliament, the extreme right wing AfD is currently polling in second place ahead of the Social Democrats which are leading the German government in a coalition with the Free Democrats and the Greens.
In the program Herrmann explained how Germany is not only challenged with right-wing extremism but how there is also a new breakaway party on the extreme left which combines traditional socialism with support for Putin’s Russia and with an anti-immigration agenda, in fact combining both nationalism and socialism. Meanwhile also a radical Islamist party has appeared on the political scene and is expected to be represented in the new European Parliament in Brussels as well.
In coming weeks and months ECI will produce additional reports and webinars about the upcoming EU elections. On Tuesday ECI commissioned one of the leading think tanks in Brussels to conduct a special survey on how the different national political parties represented in the current European Parliament have voted on issues related to Israel over the last five years with a special report on the voting records after the terror attack on October 7.
Elections for the European Parliament take place 6-9 June 2024. This will be the tenth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979 and the first European Parliament election after Brexit.
The 100th European Report will be released on the ECI website shortly.
