By: C. R.
For the European People’s Party (EPP), repeating a coalition with left-centre parties can be “a path to defeat”, wrote SDS President Janez Janša on the social network X after attending a meeting of government leaders and opposition party leaders from the EPP. He reiterated his support for a coalition that would include one party from the right and one from the left in addition to the EPP.
Janša attended the so-called EPP summit in Brussels today, where prime ministers, presidents, and opposition leaders from the European People’s Party met before the informal session of EU member state leaders to discuss the allocation of leading positions in European institutions.
Additionally, he met with the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who leads the right-wing party European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). He also met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is currently not affiliated with any political group at the EU level, and former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki from the Law and Justice party, which is part of the ECR.
Regarding today’s discussions on leadership positions, Janša wrote that instead of substantive debates, the focus is on the division of roles. He added that at the European Council, the “personnel kitchen is predictable, while in the European Parliament, the vote on the leadership of the European Commission is secret”.
“For the EPP, repeating a coalition solely to the left is a path to defeat both in personnel votes and in the long term. SDS insists on a balanced coalition capable of prudently leading European policy for the benefit of our people’s security and prosperity,” he further wrote.
Before the elections, Janša had already advocated for a centrist coalition of the EPP with one partner from the left and one from the right. “However, if the EPP leadership wanted to form a coalition with the Greens, the far left, the socialists, and the liberals, the EPP would collapse, and a new conservative group would emerge, which is quite clear,” he responded to a question on the N1 online portal during a debate with Prime Minister Robert Golob about whether the SDS would remain in the EPP after the elections.
SDS delegates, at a pre-election congress of the European People’s Party in Romania, withdrew support for Ursula von der Leyen as the party’s lead candidate for the European Commission’s leadership. The SDS maintains this position even after the elections.
EPP President Manfred Weber wrote after today’s meeting in Brussels that von der Leyen received “full support for a second term as President of the European Commission”.
Von der Leyen aims to continue leading the Commission, first needing the support of a qualified majority in the European Council and then a majority support from European parliamentarians. After the EPP’s fairly convincing victory in the European elections a week ago, she announced that she would first consult with socialists and liberals, with whom they have already cooperated in this mandate, about forming a post-election coalition.
