European Elections- A Pathway to New Political Realities (II)

Romania, Austria, Italy, and Spain

The European Union is back on the global agenda with new political forces and new political strategies. Geopolitical implications and geoeconomic new realities are decisively shaping the current European Parliament’s configuration of power. With new political groups forming within the current European legislative body, there are a series of political provocations and challenges that Europe has to face in order to not only remain united, recreating a common political ground between all member states but also trying to export its political values of freedom, rule of law and economic security.

In order to better understand the new political landscape, I will continue with the second part of my article about the European elections and why a new European arena is shifting which guards the wall of the European Union. How did the European elections look like in Romania, Austria, Italy, and Spain and why are these countries important in the actual configuration of political power? What really happened behind the political curtains and how did the EU succeed in avoiding a much higher number of far-right or extreme-left political parties? My thesis is that the EU succeeded decisively in avoiding an extreme (left or right) majority within not only the EU Parliament but also in the European society.

First of all, since my previous article, there have been some changes within the configuration of the new European Parliament which I have to mention and explain:

1. The European political group “Identity and Democracy” was dissolved a couple of weeks after the European elections, the contradictions starting to arise when there were some controversies surrounding the famous political party member Maximilian Krah from AfD (Alternative for Germany), which, as I have stated in the first part of my article, was suspected to have close ties with Russia and China. Therefore, the majority of the parties within the Identity and Democracy gave AfD an ultimatum, the main opposition party being the National Rally (Rassemblement Nationale) of France. The main political parties voted against AfD, even though Krah was withdrawn from the main political stage;
2. Another major change is the fact that AfD is currently trying to form a new European political group, with the name of ‘Europe of Sovereign Nations’[1]. Other parties associated with the same political family would include “Slovakia’s Republika, France’s Reconquête, Greece’s Νikh, and Hungary’s Mi Házank Mozgalom”[2], although nothing was officially confirmed;
3. The third major political change is the establishment of a new political group, built on the ashes of the ‘Identity and Democracy’ political group, which is called ‘Patriots of Europe’ and which comprises the majority of the former ID political parties. This group was formed after the dissolution of the ID political group, the main political parties being the National Rally of France, Fidesz of Hungary (the political party of Viktor Orban which left the European People’s Party group in 2021), the League of Italy, and Vox of Spain, with Jordan Bardella as the president of this new political group, one of the main political figures of the National Rally[3]. Because of the growing numbers of MEPs joining this group, it became the third largest European political group, after the EPP and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, comprising 84 members out of 705.  If we sum up the Patriots of Europe and the European Conservatives and Reformists (78 members), which are the main European political groups, in which there are several Eurosceptic political parties, 162 out of 705 members is the result.

Coming back to the discussion of what type of political parties won the European elections in Romania, Austria, Italy, and Spain, there are certain observations to take into account:

1. Austria has 20 seats allocated for the MEPs. In Austria, the winner of the European elections was FPÖ (‘Die Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs’, in English ‘Freedom Party of Austria’), which won 25,36% of the votes, representing one of the parties that are within the newly formed ‘Patriots of Europe’ EU political group[4], sending thus 6 members in the EU Parliament. On the second place comes the ÖVP (‘Österreichische Volkspartei’, meaning the Austrian’s People Party), with a very tiny difference in comparison with the first place, namely 24.52% of the votes, translating thus in 5 MEPs, which are a part of the EPP. When it comes to the ideology promoted by FPÖ, one can see that it is closer to what AfD means for the Germans. It is known for its close ties with the Russian government, not only because it opposed the sanctions against the Russian Federation in the context of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, but also for building closer ties with United Russia, the party of Vladimir Putin. According to Deutsche Welle, since 2007, FPÖ built closer and closer relations with Russia, “verbally support Russian military interventions, including in 2008 in Georgia”[5]. This relationship culminated in 2016 when this party signed a friendship treaty with United Russia[6]. On the third place, there is the SPÖ (‘Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs’, – in English ‘Social Democratic Party of Austria’), winning 23,22% of the votes and 5 seats within the S&D group.
2. Spain almost completely avoided the far-right wave. I wanted to mention the situation in Spain in order to underline the fact that some EU countries succeeded in keeping low the scores of the far right. Spain has 61 seats allocated within the EU Parliament. In Spain, Partido Popular (English- ‘The People’s Party’) won the elections with 34.2% of the votes[7], translating into 22 seats within the EPP group[8]. On the second place, Partido Socialista Obrero Español, in Engish ‘Spanish Socialist Workers Party’ won 30.18% of the votes, translating into 20 MEPs within the S&D group[9]. On the third place, it comes Vox (English- ‘The Voice’), which is considered to be the more populist party in Spain, with 9.62% of the votes, translating into 6 seats within the ‘Patriots for Europe’ newly established political group[10].
3. Italy represents one of the most interesting political cases within the EU, having 76 seats allocated within the EU Parliament. Giorgia Meloni, the actual prime minister of Italy and the actual leader of the ‘European Conservatives and Reformists’ EU political group since 2020, is one of the main political figures in European politics because she bridges the main right tendencies of the EU, being the leader of the main ruling political party at the moment in Italy, namely Fratelli d’Italia (English- ‘Brothers of Italy’). On the one hand, she is completely supportive of the EU sanctions imposed on Russia and she withdrew from the Belt and Road Initiative in 2023, which is the main Chinese economic weapon worldwide; on the other hand, she was part of a far-right-wing controversial party when she was younger (Italian Social Movement) and her views on the future European project is for a more nation-based EU. In terms of the results, Fratelli d’Italia won 28.76% of the votes[11], translating into 24 seats. In second place is the Democratic party, which won 24.11% of the votes, meaning 21 seats within the S&D group. In third place, the Movimento Cinque Stelle (English- ‘Five Star Movement’) of Giuseppe Conte, obtained 9.98% of the votes, translating into 10 seats within The Left political group.
4. Last but not least, Romania represents another interesting case in terms of how the people voted. Romania has a total of 33 seats within the EU Parliament. The first observation is the fact that, for the European elections and for the local elections, which took place at the same time in Romania, there was formed an alliance (the Social Democratic Party- PSD and the National Liberal Party- PNL), winning 48,55% of the votes[12]. How does this translate into the EU political landscape? PSD, which is affiliated with the S&D political group, won 11 seats, and PNL, which is affiliated with the EPP political group, won 10 seats. The second observation is the division of the pro-Russian political parties AUR (the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians), led by George Simion, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) confirming that he met back in 2011 with one of the leaders of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB)[13], and SOS Romania, led by Diana Iovanovici-Șoșoacă, a lawyer known for her often visits at the Russian Embassy in Bucharest. Two days after the election day, Diana Șoșoacă was seen at a reception at the Russian Embassy, a reception organized in the context of the National Day of Russia[14]. Coming back to the results of the elections, on the second place lies AUR with 14.93% of the votes, translating into 6 MEPs within the ECR group and, on the third place, lies the United Right Alliance (formed by the Union for the Salvation of Romania- USR, the Party of the People’s Movement-PMP and the Right Force- FD) with 8,71%, delivering 2 MEPs for the Renew Group and 1 member within the EPP.

In conclusion, I stressed out the main political parties of the European Parliament within the newly formed European chessboard. Even though there were not many significant changes within the EU architecture in terms of movements from the left to right or from the right to the left, it can be discussed about a slight shift to the right in terms of political ideology, political philosophy, and political values. In my opinion, the main problem within this configuration remains the close relations that some of the parties and their members maintain with the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China, whose dictatorships are the main enemies of the free democratic world.

[1] Peter CADDLE, “EXCL: Launch of ‘Europe of Sovereign Nations’ group in EP ‘imminent’”, Brussels Signal, 4^th July 2024, accessed at https://brusselssignal.eu/2024/07/excl-launch-of-europe-of-sovereign-nations-group-in-ep-imminent/ on 09.07.2024

[2] Ibidem

[3] “Patriots for Europe becomes EU parliament’s 3rd-largest group, picks Jordan Bardella as president”, Politico, accessed at https://www.politico.eu/article/patriots-for-europe-jordan-bardella-viktor-orban-marine-le-pen/ on 09.07.2024

[4] “2024 European elections results. Austria”, European Parliament, accessed at https://results.elections.europa.eu/en/national-results/austria/2024-2029/ on 09.07.2024

[5] Rupert WIEDERWALD, “Austria’s FPÖ under scrutiny for Russia ties”, Deutsche Welle, 21.05.2019, accessed at https://www.dw.com/en/austrias-far-right-fp%C3%B6-party-under-scrutiny-for-ties-to-russia/a-48822539 on 09.07.2024

[6] Ibidem

[7] “2024 European elections results. Spain”, European Parliament, accessed at https://results.elections.europa.eu/en/spain/ on 09.07.2024

[8] “Spain”, European Parliament, accessed at https://results.elections.europa.eu/en/national-results/spain/2024-2029/ on 09.07.2024

[9] Ibidem

[10] Ibidem

[11] “2024 European elections results. Italy”, European Parliament, accessed at https://results.elections.europa.eu/en/italy/ on 09.07.2024

[12] “2024 European elections results. Romania”, European Parliament, accessed at https://results.elections.europa.eu/en/romania/ on 09.07.2024

[13] “Serviciile secrete ucrainiene confirmă că George Simion s-a întâlnit cu un agent FSB la Cernăuți. Reacția AUR”, Digi24, 08.04.2023, accessed at https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/politica/serviciile-secrete-ucrainene-confirma-ca-george-simion-s-ar-fi-intalnit-cu-un-agent-fsb-la-cernauti-2308417 on 09.07.2024

[14] “Diana Șoșoacă a mers la o recepție la ambasada Rusiei, la două zile după alegerile la care a câștigat un mandat în Parlamentul European”, Digi24, 12.06.2024, accessed at https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/diana-sosoaca-a-mers-la-o-receptie-la-ambasada-rusiei-la-doua-zile-dupa-alegerile-la-care-a-castigat-un-mandat-in-parlamentul-european-2825757 on 09.07.2024