Babiš's ANO party is leaving the European liberals. It may be planning to form a group with Orbán and Fico

Friday, Jun 21, 2024

Babiš’s ANO leaves European liberals; potential new nationalist group formation is discussed.

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[This is an automatically generated summary, for reference only]

Andrej Babiš’s ANO party is leaving the European liberals, both its political group Renew and the pan-European liberal party ALDE, stating that ANO cannot fulfill its program within these structures due to differing views on issues like the Green Deal and migration pact. The move comes as joining parliamentary groups offers advantages such as leadership roles in committees and dedicated funding. While Babiš previously denied any discussion of liberalism for ANO, his current alignment suggests a potential effort by ANO to form a new national-populist group alongside existing ones (ECR and ID). A coalition of ANO, Fidesz, and Směr already possesses the required number of MEP seats, making it feasible to establish a new group with minimal additions. Meanwhile, more extreme right-wing forces are also attempting to create new groups, though internal disagreements complicate such formations.


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