The sudden departure of the ‘ANO’ party further weakens Renew Europe and its traditional role as king brand in the European Parliament.
Renew Europe, the liberal group in the European Parliament that suffered painful losses in the June elections, has been dealt a new blow after Andrej Babiš, the controversial former prime minister of the Czech Republic, announced the withdrawal of his seven MEPs.
This means that Renew Europe will go from 81 to 74 seatswhich further weakens his traditional position as king among conservatives and socialists.
Babiš has requested to leave his party ‘ANO’ with immediate effect. His decision, he explained, is due to disagreements related to migration policy and the Green Deal, which Renew Europedespite some resistance, has systematically supported.
“We went to the European elections saying that we would fight against illegal immigration, that we wanted to repeal the ban on internal combustion engines and fundamentally change the Green Deal,” Babiš said on Friday morning.
The former prime minister added that he would look for a new group in Parliament “with which we can promote our programme”, although he did not suggest any specific name.
Billionaire, Babiš has been accused of participate in conflicts of interest, intimidate political rivals y use offshore structures to avoid paying taxes. Babiš was the center of a long-running criminal case for fraud involving €2 million in EU funds, which sparked street protests. In February was acquitted for the second time.
The series of scandals sparked tensions between Babiš and his liberal counterparts in Europe, raising questions about how long the precarious bond could last.
Reacting to the news, the President of Renew Europe, Valerie Hayersaid that the divorce “should have occurred a long time ago” due to ANO’s “populist trajectory”, which turned out to be “incompatible” with the group.
“Over the last month, their divergence from our values has increased exponentially and we have noted this with great concern,” Hayer said in a statement.
“ANO’s unwillingness to continue its commitment to liberal values has led to today’s result. They have turned their backs on our strong pro-European beliefs and values.”
Hayer, who could face a challenge to his leadership as soon as next week, predicted that the departure of ‘ANO’ would solidify Renew Europe and make it “more united“.
Even so, the Czech departure comes at a particularly precarious moment for the liberals, who with each passing day see how their political influence in Brussels is reduced to new lows.
On Thursday, Renew Europe announced the addition of an MEP from the Belgian party Les Engagés. Hours later, it emerged that ‘Volt Europa’, the federalist movement that won five seats in the election, would sit with the Greens, instead of Renew.
Volt’s move has not been officially confirmed but is believed to be due to Renew Europe’s complicated relationship with ANO and VVD, the Dutch party that recently signed a deal. coalition with Geert Wildersone of Europe’s most prominent far-right leaders.
Hayer initially promised to hold a vote to expel VVD from the Liberal family but, after the election, he backed off his plans, which would have deprived Renovación of more seats. Instead of expelling ‘VVD’, Renew is likely to send an observer mission to the Netherlands to check whether the party crosses any red lines regarding liberal values and principles, according to ‘Euronews’. in exclusive Thursday.
The withdrawal of the seven MEPs from ‘ANO’ reinforces the far-right group European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) as the third formation of Parliament, which became official earlier this week when the ECR announced a series of new members.
Babiš has already ruled out joining the ECR, as this group already includes the party of the current Prime Minister, Petr Fiala, who defeated Babiš in 2021.
