In the scandal over alleged agreements between conservative and right‑wing forces in the European Parliament, the Minister-President of Rhineland‑Palatinate, Alexander Schweitzer (SPD), says he has been personally misled.
When “the European Conservatives and Reformists” under Manfred Weber’s leadership launched this initiative, Schweitzer called it a profound breach of trust, telling the news portal T‑Online. He added that many voters who supported the CDU and CSU in the European elections had relied on assurances that the parties would not deal with the AfD or other far‑right groups in Brussels. Schweitzer himself had trusted Weber’s statements and now views the outcome as a serious political mistake.
He described the situation as a “taboo break” that harms all democrats. Schweitzer now expects the CDU and CSU to issue a “clear directive” to Weber and his Brussels colleagues, emphasizing that the credibility of the political centre has been recklessly damaged.
At the same time, Schweitzer criticized his own SPD colleagues in Brussels. He argued that the EU return regulation-an objective shared by both the SPD and the Union-has been impeded by the SPD, calling this block “wrong”. He maintains that a failed deal should never be a justification for aligning with right‑extremists. The minister insists that what matters is a basic consensus among democrats that has been violated.
