STRASBOURG ― The right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists party, led by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, will on Wednesday evening vote to welcome Czech MEP Nikola Bartůšek into its EU Parliament group.
The move, confirmed by two people with knowledge of the matter, comes as political groups gear up for the mid-term reshuffle in January 2027 when all top jobs within the house will be up for grabs, including that of the European Parliament president. The more MEPs, the more positions and leverage groups have in the negotiation
With Bartůšek joining, ECR cements its place as Parliament’s fourth-largest group with 82 seats. Renew rises to 78 seats but remains fifth.
“We will increase our numbers,” said ECR co-chair Nicola Procaccini on Tuesday at a press conference, though cautioning “we don’t want to enlarge our numbers only because we want to be bigger than the others ― we want to increase our influence through the right people.”
In recent months, Renew Europe has welcomed German MEP Lukas Sieper, Italian MEPs Elisabetta Gualmini and European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno, both defectors from Italy’s Social Democrats.
“Each of the groups in this Parliament has an interest in growing to gain influence,” Renew chair Valérie Hayer said in February.
Bartůšek won her seat in the 2024 European election on a joint ticket between her far-right Eurosceptic party Přísaha and the Motorists party, which is aligned with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. She did not respond to a request for comment before publication.