German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) is demanding answers from the head of the European People’s Party (EPP), Manfred Weber, after information surfaced that the EPP had been cooperating with so-called “far-right” groups in the European Parliament (EP) to pass groundbreaking migration control legislation.

Merz, along with CSU chairman Markus Söder expect “that this will be stopped and that there will be consequences if necessary,” the German leader said, according to Welt. He noted that “Manfred Weber now bears the responsibility for this.” 

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“We disapprove of what apparently took place at the staff level last week. We will not work together with the far-right in the European Parliament,” Merz stated.

Investigations by the German Press Agency (dpa) uncovered a close cooperation between the EPP and right-wing groups, including the European Socialist Network (ESN), to which the staunchly anti-migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) belongs. The EPP even held conversations via online chat groups and personal meetings to work together on legislation to tighten migration policy. This proposal subsequently received a majority in the EU parliament’s relevant committee.

‘We are facing another major migration crisis in Europe,’ says EPP’s Weber, a longtime foe of Hungary’s tough immigration policy

Markus Söder told press that the CSU is “greatly surprised, irritated, and disturbed,” adding that Weber had subsequently assured him that such cooperation would never happen again.

The leader of the Left group in the European Parliament, Martin Schirdewan, demanded consequences: “Manfred Weber must resign,” he said.

PM Orbán: EPP is sliding from the Christian right-wing to the left

Under Weber’s leadership, the EPP had already sided with the right-wing bloc on the supply chain law. Following the latest revelations, it is now clear that the dismantling of the firewall is not an accident, but rather a systematic and structural process, writes Welt. 

Notably, Merz ran on a campaign of implementing migration control, and yet, when Weber moves to control migration with legislation in cooperation with right-wing parties, he is now being admonished. To add to the confusion, Merz himself came under sharp criticism himself for working with the AfD to try and pass legislation just before national elections to tighten immigration rules. The legislation failed to pass and Merz vowed to never work with the AfD again.