European Leaders pitch new alliance for MEP elections

In a joint op-ed published this morning, Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat, ALDE chief Guy Verhofstadt and Christophe Castaner, the leader of Emmanuel Macron’s La République En Marche movement, have extended an open invitation to politicians to heed their call to fight resurgent nationalism ahead of the European election next year.

The op-ed has appeared in the Times, Guardian, El País and Libération and is also co-authored by former Italian PM Matteo Renzi, Spain’s Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera, former Romanian PM Dacian Cioloș, Belgium’s MR politician Olivier Chastel and Dutch Democrats 66 leader Alexander Pechtold.

In it they warn that if the European project isn’t strengthened, we could see a return to a 1930s world.

More importantly, it is the first indication of a pan-European movement for 2019 that could see socialists, liberals and progressives enter the slipstream of Emmanuel Macron’s slipstream of electoral success to create an alliance against illiberal and sovreignist European states.

“We are determined to overcome existing partisan structures if they act as obstacles We have committed ourselves to rejuvenating Europe by bringing together citizens from all four corners of our Union. People are passionate about the EU and determined to invest in this historical project…

“Eight months is all we have left to reawaken Europe. So we must come together to act now.”

The leaders say they want to “rebuild the EU to finally meet the expectations of our peoples, and to reconnect with the European promise.”

MaltaToday