Don’t Compromise with the Mushy Middle

During the frenzy of activity last night at our Brussels news bureau, as we reported on the European Elections, it felt very much like we were watching the stock market: numbers seemingly detached from people. We reviewed exit poll data, researched leads, and did the math to see where the results put various parties and parliamentary groups. And we found that the nationalist, populist “shift to the Right” that we were all warned about by legacy media more or less happened. That’s very good news, indeed.

However, amongst all of the pundits’ hot takes and discussions of backroom ‘wheeling and dealing,’ it’s important to remember that the election is not simply a procedural or merely technical event. It’s about the voters, after all: citizens.

Elections are supposed to be a reflection of the will of the people who live and work in Europe—individuals expressing their opinions and saying what kind of Europe they want. And, overwhelmingly, it should be clear by now, the people of Europe are looking for a significant change.

To begin with, as we have been saying for years, Europeans are fed up with open borders and the insecurity it has brought. This message is apparent in the success of Alternative für Deutschland, and the victories of Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National, the Austrian Freedom Party, Hungary’s Fidesz, and Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia, among others.

Additionally, the overwhelming vote against Green parties across Europe has sent a powerful message: people have had enough of absurd ‘net zero’ policies and, instead, seek politicians who will protect our farmers from the stranglehold of EU regulations that hurt them. Voters don’t want policies that will force us to buy expensive electric cars or eat bugs, or that make us freeze all winter.

The challenge for the European Right, now that it has been clearly given a mandate by voters, is to make sure the newly-elected (or re-elected) politicians on the Right have their feet held to the fire—so that they don’t make compromises with the mushy centrists. This has happened too often in the past.

Yesterday’s election indicates a real shift: people looking for something different—for real leadership. In some countries, this is taking the form of a hardline, anti-immigration government party; in others, it’s has the fresh face of an anti-globalist, anti-woke party. To be sure, there were also some surprises (and a few setbacks) for parties on the Right—and many will need to take stock of where they went wrong. But what is clear is that they should already be planning for the future—so that they’re ready next time.

Last night, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen triumphantly declared that the “centre held” because the European Peoples’ Party (EPP) group got the highest number of seats in the Parliament. That’s one way to be willfully blind to reality. She is missing (or ignoring) the message behind the electoral results: Europeans want a change. And we can be sure that the EPP will not deliver this much-needed change.

Von der Leyen smugly also told audiences that the EPP will continue to partner with the Socialists & Democrats and the liberal Renew group. This is quite telling. If this isn’t a good enough reason to stop calling the EPP ‘centre-right,’ we don’t know what is.

The centre—aptly represented by the EPP—is the mushy middle: a formless blob filled with career politicians and bureaucrats jockeying for position. They should be shunned. Any party that believes in national sovereignty, strong borders, subsidiarity, and who seeks to protect children from the ‘trans’ and ‘woke’ agenda, and doesn’t worship at the altar of ‘net zero,’ ought to turn its back on the centre—and, instead, find its natural home in the real right wing of the European Parliament.

Ursula—and the other delusional, self-congratulatory Eurocrats—think that the next parliament will be business as usual, that the cordon sanitaire against the Right will still apply. But it isn’t business as usual. The collapse of the left-liberal establishment parties, especially in France and Germany, is a powerful message that must not be ignored. Similarly, the massive defeat of the Greens is another message to be heeded. But blinded by their hubris, the Eurocrats cannot read the writing on the wall.

There will be plenty of newcomers who won’t play by the establishment’s rules. They should be encouraged, rewarded, and supported. It is their rejection of the status quo that gives all of us hope—and which reflects the dissatisfaction of citizens across Europe.

The elections tell us that voters aren’t going to stay silent anymore. They don’t want to hear empty promises from ambitious politicos anymore. They don’t want to be told one thing, only to see precisely the opposite happen in the halls of power. They want a change.

So, if the European establishment—in Brussels and elsewhere—thinks it can get away with business as usual, the Right will have to hold it accountable. And we will do our best to do the same. But a few words of caution: if the ‘centre-right’ are going to call themselves ‘conservative,’ then they, too, will have to be called out every single time they support a policy or position that isn’t conservative—or anytime they begin to waver in the face of criticism or opposition. Conservatives should no longer capitulate to others, nor sacrifice principles for pragmatism. Yesterday’s elections are undisputed evidence that firm positions and moral clarity are the only way forward.