The left-liberal groups in the European Parliament would rather disrespect the will of the voters than have to cooperate with the conservative-sovereigntist parties—this approach was made evident yet again after a vote on the protection of the EU’s external borders.
On Wednesday, October 23rd, the right-wing groups in the Parliament, and most of the MEPs from the centrist-liberal European People’s Party (EPP), voted in favour of funding “external physical barriers” under the EU’s 2025 budget, as well as “explore the idea of developing return hubs [deportation centres] outside the EU.” The amendment was passed with a relative majority of 329 MEPs.
The desire to protect the external borders of the bloc, and to establish hotspots for asylum claims outside the EU in order to curb illegal migration, is becoming more and more pronounced as member states grapple with an influx of migrants. The European Parliament’s shift to the right following the EU elections in June, and the growing support for anti-immigration parties, has only made that desire even more evident.
“Securing the border, once rejected as heresy, has become mainstream. Will the European Parliament defend Europe, or open the floodgates? … There is a right-wing majority in this House to stop illegal migration, stop asylum abuse and stop the weaponisation of migrants. It’s time we use it,” Swedish MEP Charlie Weimers of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group argued in his speech in the Parliament.
Left-liberal groups, however, are less concerned about respecting democracy and the will of the voters and vented their anger at the EPP for having the audacity of voting together with the “far right”—their preferred, degrading expression for all the 189 MEPs who make up the three conservative-sovereigntist groups in the Parliament.
The Left has not been shy in disrespecting democracy, as they—together with the EPP—flat out refused to give the right-wing Patriots for Europe, the third largest group in the Parliament, leading positions in the Parliament’s governing bodies, stripping them of their rightful claim for vice-presidential positions as well as chairmanships of committees.
Following the vote on the amendment to the protection of the EU’s borders, leftist MEPs were livid. “The EPP did not respect the deal and voted for several amendments with the far right,” said Socialist Romanian MEP Victor Negrescu, referring to a deal between the EPP and left-liberal groups who form a majority in the Parliament in support of the Ursula von der Leyen-led European Commission.
“Something very serious happened. This means that the EPP abandons the solid majority built to back Ursula von der Leyen as Commission president,” said French liberal MEP Fabienne Keller.
Brussels-friendly Politico stated, “the fiasco exposed disunity among the more traditional and centrist parties that control the European Parliament, and which represent a bulwark against the legislature’s rightward shift during the June EU election.” In other words: they represent a bulwark against the obvious wishes of the electorate.
Nevertheless, a resolution on the EU budget as a whole—which included the aforementioned amendment—was voted down in the Parliament on Wednesday.
As Tamás Deutsch, Hungarian MEP for the Patriots group, told a press conference:
The Patriots’ amendment proposals would have provided the EU with an effective instrument for stopping illegal migration, for external border protection, including the purchase of technical border protection equipment, and for the construction and maintenance of border fences.
However, he added, next year’s EU budget will remain an incentive for migration and a constraint on national sovereignty. The Patriots’ group therefore voted against the resolution on the 2025 EU budget.
There is also a general dissatisfaction on the Right with the EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact, which was adopted by the left-liberal majority of the European Parliament, as well as a majority of member states earlier this year, and will come into force in 2026. Critics of the pact, such as the sovereigntist governments in Hungary and Slovakia, believe the pact only serves as yet another pull factor for migrants, as it forces member states to accept asylum seekers or pay a hefty fine.
The flawed EU migration pact must not be implemented but thrown out, and the penalties imposed on Hungary for stopping migration must be halted, said Hungarian MEP Kinga Gál, vice president of the Patriots group in Strasbourg on Wednesday.
She reiterated the group’s stance that external border protection is a priority, asylum applications must be processed outside Europe, cooperation with countries of origin and transit of migration must be developed, and those who are not allowed to stay in the EU must be effectively returned.
She criticised the European Commission for “harshly punishing” Hungary for defending the EU’s borders. According to a June ruling by the European Court of Justice, Hungary has to pay a lump sum of €200 million, with an additional €1 million a day, for outsourcing EU asylum procedures—a verdict Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called politically motivated, “outrageous and unacceptable.”