No, they belong to the same EPP Christian Democrat group, the dominant force in the European Parliament, and should in theory be close allies in May’s European Union election. The May 23-26 European Parliament vote could prove to be a tipping point in post-war European politics. “We’ve never seen something like this in EU elections,” said European politics Professor Hendrik Vos of Ghent University about the abrasive election climate. Over the years, the major political groups started looking at adding unattached national parties to expand their bases. And all this comes at a time when the European Parliament now has more powers.

Source: National Post February 24, 2019 07:41 UTC