tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-492174345240444269.post768447187859919967..comments2023-09-09T14:46:37.354+02:00Comments on Julien Frisch: The European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECRG) - corrected and updatedJulien Frischhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18167141111642456560noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-492174345240444269.post-5145127023010352372009-06-25T09:56:28.371+02:002009-06-25T09:56:28.371+02:00I would be the most happy person if this happens! ...I would be the most happy person if this happens! :-)Julien Frischhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18167141111642456560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-492174345240444269.post-64808057827427428232009-06-25T09:51:35.161+02:002009-06-25T09:51:35.161+02:00You may be right, but do not underestimate the pow...You may be right, but do not underestimate the power of the Kaczynski-party to bully or enrage anybody in Europe. They were lost in the big tent EPP with Berlusconi and others, but now it will be easier to question the Tories why they sit together with these guys.Antal Dánielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13982036207587080662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-492174345240444269.post-19176020410309986892009-06-25T00:06:54.892+02:002009-06-25T00:06:54.892+02:00Regarding your last paragraph: I have doubts that ...Regarding your last paragraph: I have doubts that on the long run the national media or national competitors will make big use of opposing ideological positions of ECRG partner parties, even if their idea(l)s are completely opposite.<br /><br />The national attention span for political details in the EP will soon be over, and then all that counts for the ECRG members is that they have more power than they have separately.<br /><br />Only if national players opposing these parties are able to keep the views and positions of these unlikely partners up on the agenda, it might hurt.<br /><br />But I have doubts that this will happen.Julien Frischhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18167141111642456560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-492174345240444269.post-8616863208262438542009-06-24T23:50:25.814+02:002009-06-24T23:50:25.814+02:00Julien, I don't agree with you that nobody wan...Julien, I don't agree with you that nobody wanted to play with these guys. They had been happily sitting in the EPP beforehand, and they could have stayed. (The PES has similar un-nice parties, like Smer from Slovakia).<br /><br />I do hope that for some of these parties these grouping will cost votes at home dearly. The Hungarian Democratic Forum has been campaigning with 'normalcy' and positioned itself as the most centrist party in Hungary. Now they end up with zealots and witchhunters, because I think PiS, ODS and probably the Tories have these types in great numbers. That will give easy material for the national media. In Hungary, the PiS is too close to go unnoticed and it was not reported because they have not been directly connected to Hungary.<br /><br />I like your description that this group is against good things and for the bad ones, although I don't think they are particularly nationalists. This is as if the right-wing of the Republican Party has formed a new group in the American Congress. <br /><br />Although your analysis may be correct, that this move won't cost votes for the Tories, as their voters may think that the worse for EU the better, but for the other parties it will be an unconvenience. What will the PiS voters think about Tory civil liberties policies? And what will Hungarian Democratic Forum voters, who are actually rather green think of ODS that tries to stop Copenhagen.Antal Dánielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13982036207587080662noreply@blogger.com