Orban’s group and AfD did not receive leadership positions in European Parliament

On July 16, the European Parliament did not support the appointment of representatives of two new far-right groups—Viktor Orban’s Patriots for Europe and the Europe of Sovereign Nations led by the Alternative for Germany (AfD)—as vice presidents. This was reported by Euronews.

The first round of voting elected eleven of the fourteen vice-presidential positions in the European Parliament: five from the center-left Socialists and Democrats, three from the European People’s Party, two from the liberal Renew Europe group, and one from the Greens.

The soft Eurosceptics from the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), led by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, managed to win two vice presidential seats in the second round of voting, one more than in the previous convocation.

A representative from the Left filled the last, fourteenth vice presidential seat.

Instead, neither French far-right leader Jordan Bardella of the National Union’s Patriots for Europe nor Alternative for Germany’s Europe of Sovereign Nations will be represented in the European Parliament’s bureau, which defines its regulations and budget.

Last week, the European People’s Party, the largest group in the European Parliament, confirmed that it was in talks with other centrist groups to prevent the far right and pro-Kremlin forces from taking up influential positions.

A Patriots spokesperson called the effort “undemocratic” and an insult to “millions of European citizens who have a right to be heard.”

The AfD, expelled from the far-right group Identity and Democracy due to scandals, formed the Europe of Sovereign Nations with 28 MEPs from nine countries. And the Patriots for Europe included deputies from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and French far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s parties. It is currently the third-largest force in parliament, with 84 members.