The creation of a political group bringing together parliamentarians from far-right European parties in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) was denied Thursday by the bureau of this assembly. "The Bureau of the Assembly has today decided not to recognize the formation of the new political group of the New European Democrats / Europe of Nations and Freedoms (NDE / ENL)," said PACE on its Twitter account.
A request had been made at the beginning of the year to create this group called "New European Democrats / Europe of Nations and Freedom", but this had to be validated by the PACE Bureau, which, on several occasions, had failed to make a decision. Presided over by Austria's Martin Graf of the far-right Austrian party FPÖ, the group wanted to bring together Austrian parliamentarians from the FPÖ, Bulgarian, Czech, Estonian, German AfD and Italian League.
"They want to destroy democracy"
"The Council of Europe was founded to protect democracy, human rights and the rule of law.The FPÖ, the AfD and the League want to destroy democracy and the rule of law and deny Many of their members are racist, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic, which is fundamentally against the organization, "said Frank Schwabe, German Social Democrat MEP and member of the PACE Bureau.
With no binding powers, PACE brings together more than 300 parliamentarians from the 47 member states of the Council of Europe. Meeting for four weeks a year in a plenary session in Strasbourg, this assembly issues recommendations or asks governments to report on human rights or democracy. PACE currently has six political groups (European People's Party, "Socialists, Democrats and Greens", Conservatives, Liberals, etc.). A political group must "commit to respect the values upheld by the Council of Europe and, in particular, political pluralism, human rights and the rule of law," PACE said on its website.