The first vice-president of the European Commission and the Party of European Socialists's candidate for president this May, Frans Timmermans, this Friday criticised PP and Cs for planning to "govern with the support of an extreme right party", referring for their agreement following December's election in Andalusia. The party in question, Vox, he says "rejects fundamental European values".
"Is this what the European People's Party has in store for Europe? A coalition with the extreme right?", he asked in a tweet, a sentiment he later posted again in Spanish.
In Andalucia, PP and Ciudadanos will govern with the support of an extreme right party that rejects fundamental European values. Is this what the EPP has in store for Europe? A coalition with the extreme right.
— Frans Timmermans (@TimmermansEU) 11 de gener de 2019
In a follow-up message, the Dutch politician emphasised that his party "will never form a coalition with the extreme right in Europe".
Let me be clear: our party will never form a coalition with the extreme right in Europe. This I guarantee.
— Frans Timmermans (@TimmermansEU) 11 de gener de 2019
With four months to go to the European election, the agreement for the Andalusian government has reached Brussels. Yesterday, Guy Verhofstadt, leader of ALDE claimed on Twitter that Ciudadanos, member of his European group, had made neither "concessions nor agreements with Vox". The party has been arguing in Spain that they only signed an agreement with PP, that it was PP who signed with Vox. The Belgian politician said he was "happy" to see them in government with a "centrist and reformist programme".