Nothing ‘to be ashamed of:’ EU’s center-right clashes with Socialists over far-right votes

The center-right European People’s Party won’t rule out voting with the far right to deliver its policy agenda, even as Social Democrats and Liberals increase calls for an ironclad centrist coalition deal, according to Finnish EPP delegation chief Mika Aaltola. “I’m not saying that there should be anything to be ashamed of in our track record. Actually, I’m saying the opposite. We have gotten our content through, and that’s usually rewarded,” Aaltola said at POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook Live event. He added he is against putting up a firewall to keep out far-right forces “because it leads into badly behaving kids on the other side of the fence.” “We should go beyond that. On some issues, I think that they [the far right] are relatively sane.