EFDD group collapses

The Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) group in the European Parliament, led by UKIP leader Nigel Farage, was disbanded yesterday after Latvian MEP Iveta Grigule left the group. With her leave, the EFDD group does not have representation from enough Member States to form a political group. The reason for Grigule’s defection might be related to the government formation process in Latvia and EFDD’s pro-Putin stance (suggested by the European Voice), or because of pressure on Grigule to leave EFDD if she wanted to lead a parliamentary delegation to Kazakhstan (suggested by Nigel Farage).

EFDD would be able to re-form if it is able to find a new MEP from another country not yet represented in its ranks. If EFDD cannot re-form, its collapse might create an opportunity for Marine Le Pen to restart her efforts at creating a new far-right group in the European Parliament.

Other groups in the Parliament welcomed the development, seeing it as a blow to Eurosceptics.