Left-wing European parties demonstrate their support for Timmermans in Amsterdam

He seems to know the whole text. Frans Timmermans will be on stage on Saturday afternoon at the Beurs van Berlage, on the Damrak in Amsterdam, with a group of at least twenty people – the top of the European social democrats. They sing the anti-fascist battle song Bella Ciaoat the end of the three-day congress of the Party of European Socialists. To the right behind Timmermans is Pedro Sánchez, the Prime Minister of Spain, and to his left is David Lammy, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. They laugh, clap along to the beat, but sing? Hardly. Timmermans, on the other hand, sings each of the Italian words, stomping along with one leg. The audience follows.

It had long been planned that he would welcome his European relatives in Amsterdam, says the party leader of GroenLinks-PvdA, when the room is empty, the conference is closed, and lunch is being served to Europeans who do not immediately return to their own country (including a dish consisting of lentils in a glass, with a green blade on top, making it very reminiscent of a garden).

And yes, the congress coincides with the election campaign. This is also how it happened in the previous House of Representatives elections. At the time it was inconvenient: Timmermans’ decision to join the left-wing politicians in Málaga during the penultimate campaign weekend led to misunderstanding and discussion.

Now it is the other way around: the performances are a series of expressions of support for the left-wing leader. Timmermans, European Commissioner from 2014 to 2023, is still a big name in European politics. “We must come back to power!”, Hungarian former MEP Zita Gurmai shouted through the large exhibition hall on Friday afternoon. “Also in the Netherlands! Let Frans Timmermans lead this country!”

Fake letter

Timmermans also responds to the latest developments in the campaign in the Beurs van Berlage on Saturday. A fake letter that VVD leader Dilan Yesilgoz presents on Saturday morning to “everyone who works, saves or does business”, in which she promises extra taxes and charges on behalf of GroenLinks-PvdA, among others, seems a bit “desperate” to him. And about the exclusion of a coalition with his party by Minister Ruben Brekelmans (VVD): “We now know that, the position is clear.”

We are not excluding anyone, he says, when asked whether he would like to join the VVD. “It depends on how the voter will shuffle the cards.” He wants to make GroenLinks-PvdA “so big that they cannot ignore us”. He finds it exciting, he says, because “if they [de VVD] If they get the chance, they will look for a majority on the right.”

The left-wing European politicians agree in the Beurs van Berlage: the right, the extreme right, is a danger. Conner Rousseau, leader of the Flemish socialists, advocated tougher action against that danger on Friday: “Europe is divided, and we are a knife in a shooting battle.” That has to change, he thinks: “We have to become the bazooka in the shooting fight.” If he then starts with,,Either you’re with Europe, or you’re against Europe“, he doesn’t quite get the audience on board with that.

It is not so much about migration at the European Congress. For the first time, GroenLinks-PvdA is including a target figure in its election manifesto for how many migrants are allowed to enter the Netherlands. It is not an easy subject for the left-wing European parties. The motions adopted at the congress to outline a shared line among the parties concern housing, salaries, climate and feminism. Migration is a part here and there, but not the main topic.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, one of the three social democratic leaders of the 27 EU countries, is not there. That, says Timmermans, is because she had obligations in her own country. She has developed a reputation for her tough position on migration that the EU news site Politico describes as the “black sheep of the social democrats”.

The leader who did show up: Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain. When he steps onto the stage in his brown suede jacket towards the end of the conference, it is clear that he is the rock star of the meeting. He calls Timmermans a friend, a friend who he hopes can soon welcome him as a colleague in the European council with government leaders. “I don’t know,” Timmermans says later, whether many Dutch voters are guided by Sánchez’s political wishes, “but it is nice to hear.”

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