In Austria, Sweden and Finland, conservative parties are making Faustian pacts with their more extreme opponents
, with possible far-reaching consequencesFive weeks before Germany’s snap federal election, Friedrich Merz insisted that a weekend gathering of centre-right leaders in Berlin was not an early coronation. Not quite.
EPP chief Manfred Weber insisted that, three years after Angela Merkel’s departure, “large parts of Europe” are looking forward to a return of a CDU chancellor in Berlin. To tackle migration pressures, the leaders backed “return hubs outside the EU” as well as a “real European defence union complementary to Nato”.
“With Kickl in the chancellor’s chair for the first time, he cannot be fenced in or disciplined by the smaller partner,” said Thomas Hofer, a Vienna-based political analyst. “How a chancellor Kickl will behave in the European Council is a completely open question now.” “Still, this stance suits the Finns Party well,” she added, recalling the Finn’s previous departure from government a decade ago in protest at failure to prioritise security and migration measures. “It is inevitable that some backsliding may appear in at least some policy areas and ìt will be interesting to see how the EPP will react to it.”
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