The French Government observes with attention and a point of concern the possible agreements of Citizens (Cs) with the far-right party Vox. “The alliance with the extreme right at the local level, as we have seen in Spain, is not an option,” European Affairs Secretary Amelie de Montchalin said in an interview with Spanish journalists organized by the French government on Thursday. Paris. Cs is the ally in Spain of the party of President Emmanuel Macron, The Republic In March (LREM), and both are integrated into the same group in the European Parliament. “We do not accept ambiguities with the far right,” said a source from the Elysee Palace, who added: “any common platform” between Cs and Vox “would question this cooperation.”

It is not the first time in recent months that, from the French Government or from the environment of Macron and his party, distances are marked with the party of Albert Rivera for his approach to Vox. The macronismo has always insisted that Cs was his ally, and so it was in the campaign for the elections of May 26. Agreements such as that of Andalusia, whereby the Vox supported the government coalition between the PP and Cs without entering the government, were acceptable to Macron and LREM. They did not cross the “red line” that would imply a government pact in which Cs and Vox participated. It remains to be seen, for example, if the agreement reached on Thursday in Andalusia to close a budget, in a document bearing the logo of the three parties, remains within those limits.

“The group [in the European Parliament] must make a decision on the limits, on who should and who should not belong to the group (…) It should play its internal letters, its values ​​and limits and should make the decisions,” he said. From Montchalin. “We are studying it in the group. We do not want to make too hasty decisions, “said sources of the Elysee, who believes that you can not ignore what happens at national and local level in Spain, because for Paris” is not an anecdote “what may happen.

But the Renew Europe alliance is still standing for the moment. “We look at the Spanish political situation with attention because Ciudadanos is today a central partner in the new group we are building in the European Parliament. We continue with a close collaboration because their deputies promote a strong European ambition and are allies for the refoundation of Europe that we defend, “said LREM deputy Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade, who for months helped to weave the European alliances of his party. At the same time, the macronistas need to build coalitions in the EU, beyond the liberal group, and the Spanish socialists – Cs’ rivals in Spain – figure as potential allies.

Citizens has responded to Macron’s party by means of a communique, in which it emphasizes that the collaboration with LREM is “close, even more since they have joined, thanks to Ciudadanos, to the European liberal group in which Cs has already been the last legislature”. “We are convinced that LREM will continue to be an important support for Citizens, since Macron coincides with the criteria that the executive unanimously approved, and that the Liberals face a legislature with more force than ever to renew Europe,” says the text, reports Elsa García de Blas The agreement of the executive of the party of Albert Rivera closed the door to share government with Vox, but not to receive external support, as has happened in Andalusia, where PP, Cs and Vox have reached a budget agreement on Thursday.

Sources from the group of Citizens in the European Parliament link the words of Amelie de Montchalin, “right hand of Nathalie Loiseau”, the head of Macron’s list to the European Parliament, to that Citizens withdraw their support to Loiseau to head the new joint group in Brussels. The party of Albert Rivera communicated in a meeting this Wednesday to Loiseau that would not count on his support to preside over the group – according to these same sources, with the connivance of the Elysee -, and this reacted with anger warning of consequences. In the opinion of Ciudadanos, Montchalin’s statements would be that consequence.

The party of Albert Rivera did not trust Loiseau precisely because of his statements in the past giving opinions on “internal affairs” of the countries of the allies – basically, for their opinions on the possible alliance of Cs with Vox-. But, in addition, the head of list of Macron in Europe made some declarations in off the record picked up by the Belgian newspaper Le Soir in which it criticized to different members of the liberal group and that caused the anger of the partners.

Macron has found in the Spanish president, Pedro Sanchez, and in the Portuguese prime minister, António Costa, both socialists, allies in their projects europe