Renew, the liberal faction in the European Parliament, is at risk of losing its Estonian representative to a more right-wing group, possibly the centre-right ECR.
Renew took a hit in the European elections, and since then has already lost seven Czech MEPs to Patriots for Europe, a right-wing group. Now peeling off even one Estonian member would be a blow.
What is happening is a confusing move of little-known Estonian politicians, but is worth following for the dent it could make in the Macronist Renew.
Jaak Madison, a conservative right-winger who left the Estonian Conservative People’s Party earlier this summer and became an independent, on August 22 joined the Estonian Centre Party (EK), Estonia’s public broadcaster ERR reported.
The Centre Party, a member of Renew, is a group with economically left-wing and socially conservative views. The party is popular with Estonia’s Russian minority.
The EK now says it is considering dropping its Renew membership, something that could see the European Parliament faction lose EK’s MEP, Jana Toom. (Madison, despite joining EK, is still a member of the centre-right ECR, which he joined during his few months as an independent.)
Mikhail Kõlvart, leader of the Centre Party but not an MEP, said the party board met on the morning of August 22 and proposed a reconsideration of the party’s affiliation in the European Parliament.
Kõlvart said that he and his colleagues were interested in “choosing the group that best reflects the centrist world-view of the Centre Party and the national interests of Estonians.”
He added that the Centre Party was committed to environmental issues but that the EU’s “green” transition must not hinder the economic development of Europe and Estonia.
“We are concerned that Europe’s over-regulated economic policies will deepen the gap between the US and Asian countries. Jaak Madison’s accession to the Centre Party brings out the Centre Party’s voice in the European Parliament even more forcefully and firmly. I am sure that Jana Toom and Jaak Madison will form a strong and effective team,” Kõlvart said.
In a joint statement made on August 14, Madison and Kõlvart vowed to challenge “harmful” policies being floated in the EU capital.
“It is important that the Estonian Government is willing and able to resist the policies that are harmful to Estonia imposed by Brussels, first and foremost the green transition that is economically ruining Estonia, and the plan to solve unemployment and low birth rates with mass immigration of economic refugees,” they said.
“In the next elections, the support of the people must be won by political forces that do not serve the interests of multinational corporations and ‘green transition’ companies and the more liberal wing of the European Commission, but stand steadfastly in the defence of the Estonian people and our Constitution.”
This rhetoric aligns closely with the centre-right ECR group, though Toom’s positions on Russia do appear to differ from those held by many in the parliamentary faction.
The departure of their Estonian EK MEP would be a setback for Renew. The group scored poorly during the European Parliament elections, with the French delegation in particular losing several seats.
Things only got worse after the vote. On June 21, Czech politician Andrej Babiš and his ANO movement, holding seven MEP seats, announced their departure, citing the EU Green Deal and what they said was a loss of national sovereignty as the main drivers for their departure.
The Czechs went on to join the right-wing Patriots for Europe.
Such a decline has seen Renew drop from being the third-biggest group in the European Parliament to the fifth. It currently holds 77 seats, putting it behind both the ECR (78 seats) and Patriots for Europe (84 seats).
In the close race to become the third-largest group in the European Parliament, the Liberal Renew Europe has suffered a major blow. https://t.co/tGMUhFIJq7
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) June 21, 2024
