Superallians from Tsipras to the Macron to combat the far-right in Europe

Frans Timmermans is travelling as a skottspole across the continent in order to chase votes in the european Elections. Amsterdam one day, Rome the next, and then Brussels. On Thursday, he is in Stockholm and after waiting Berlin.

If a week starts the election in his home country, the Netherlands and in the Uk. Timmermans is currently the vice-president of the EUROPEAN commission, but aims as the top candidate (Spitzenkandidat) for the socialists to take over the presidency after Jean-Claude Juncker.

on the heels, he is in one of Europe's strongest S-mounts, Portugal. He is campaigning in the regions surrounding the second largest city of Porto. In a large hangar in the countryside has around 1.500 socialists bänkat around a long table with bread, wine, cheese, sausages and olives. They're going to eat and listen to Timmermans, on its prime minister, António Costa, and several other of the country's politicians.

In the burkiga the loudspeaker played the socialist kampsånger. The speakers succeed each other and end their posts with ”long live socialism”, ”long live Portugal”, ”long live Europe” and the like. Several raises a clenched vänsternäve.

the Socialists ' candidate to be EUROPEAN commission president Frans Timmermans (r) is campaigning with the prime minister of Portugal António Costa, under the slogan ”We are Europe”. Photo: Maurice Weiss

António Costa speaks on the fight against the right wing and the need for a political alliance, from Greece's Tsipras in France, Emmanuel Macron, in order to combat it.

" It is absolutely the most important is to defend freedom, democracy and human rights. All other things will in the other hand. In France, it is, therefore, all against the National Front, says Costa to DN after his speech.

the National Front is the old name of Marine Le Pen högernationalistiska party. Since last year, the party has a new name with a little milder tone, National Collection.

recently held a rally with other centred alliance in Strasbourg sent the Portuguese prime minister, via Twitter, a special congratulation to them, despite the fact that he thus belongs to a different political group.

https://twitter.com/Renaissance_UE/status/1127234669156732928

But the Costa and the other P-leaders have more in mind than just the fight against the right wing. The european social democrats must build alliances in order to match up their candidate Frans Timmermans to the EUROPEAN union's top job.

And what had previously looked like an almost insurmountable gap to the opposition Manfred Weber, the candidate of the EPP-group in which the Swedish conservatives and christian democrats included, has shrunk.

in spite of everything participate in the EUROPEAN elections favours the S&D group (where's Swedish and Fi included) that get a supplement of the labour meps. The EPP, on the other hand no supplements at all, as no british party is a member of the group. The previous gap between the EPP and S&D at maybe 50 members last month, therefore, shrunk to 20-30, out of a total of 751 members of the european Parliament.

it will be Hungary's Viktor Orbán declared that his party now supports the Weber, which means that the EPP-the candidate may lose the additional 15 votes.

" If He leaves the EPP family, we are very close. I think we can become the largest party. Although we will shortly after, and becomes number two, I believe that with the progressive forces of the can I build a majority around my candidacy, " says Frans Timmermans to the DN.

In the debates, he has said that he wants to form an alliance with the green parties and the left in Parliament.

" No, the offer is there, but before the election I don't want to put me in a förhandlingsrum.

" Yes, but then they have to decide what they want to be. See you on the Macron is he on the exact same page as we are when it comes to european values, but sitting next to him Ciudadanos, Spain lierat with the right-wing.

Even if not Timmermans begun to negotiate with potential koalitionsparter others have done it on his behalf.

" We have given mr António Costa, and Pedro Sánchez (Spanish prime minister) to negotiate on behalf of our socialist group about what we will do after the election. At the summit in Sibiu recently met with Mark Rutte and Charles Michel, the liberal prime ministers in the Netherlands and Belgium. It was decided that we should start a discussion with the liberals, " says mr Frans Timmermans.

the Requirement he places on them is that they need to clarify the political direction that their group is moving.

" We want to not, under any circumstances, be connected with the right-wing. Where I want to be crystal clear. Every voter in Europe to know that the socialist group does not intend to go to law with the right-wing.

to reach a majority in parliament. They finally suggest who should become the commission president is the EUROPEAN union's 28 heads of state and government. The name by which it is rumored most of the circuit is the other with the EPP-affiliated, conservative frenchman Michel Barnier, the EU's Brexitförhandlare.

" He is well, no candidate, ask Timmermans rhetorically.

He, like many others, is well aware that Michel Barnier has just now popping up here and there in the EU to discuss the Brexitprocessen. As a event, it is also about the future of the EU.

" I know he is campaigning, but he would become a candidate need EPP to drop the candidate that they have now. I can't see that they do it. It would be a punch to the face against the parliament.

shrinking between the EPP and S&D group does not depend on that of the social democrats is increasing. On the contrary. The polls are showing that the S&D will back substantially since the last election, but the EPP is losing a little more. Increases make, rather than mainly of liberals and right-wing populists and nationalists.

Frans Timmermans believes that the time is over when there was a large, dominant parties.

– Every politician needs to understand that voters have a more detached relationship to their party. You can never trust to a strong ushered a major period. But encouraging is that once you have lost, you can always come back.

António Costa, considers for its part that the ideas of democratic socialism, is on a constant decline belonging to the story.

"Our socialist family is recovering," he says, and counts up how many of the EU's heads of state and government who belong to the various political groupings.

Nine are included in the EPP, eight liberals and six are included in the S&D group, where Greece's Tsipras is associated.

– Now we are waiting a Finnish prime minister in our group and a Danish, " says Costa.

In Finland, the ongoing government negotiations and before the Danish elections 5 June leading S clear.

Then it becomes S&D-group of eight at the same time as the liberals are shrinking. Then just need a Macros that flankstöd for the social democrats to be as big as the EPP.

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