Iratxe García, re-elected president of the social democrats in the European Parliament

BRUSSELS, June 25 () –

The socialist MEP Iratxe García was re-elected this Tuesday as president of the Group of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, after the socialist MEPs renewed her mandate as parliamentary leader in a process in which no alternative candidates were presented.

The social democrats are the second force in the European Parliament, with 136 seats, three less than the current ones despite the fact that the European Parliament has 15 more representatives than in the previous legislature and the Spanish delegation led by García is the second largest only behind the Italian Democratic Party.

“Social democrats are prepared to achieve the progress that our citizens need and, specifically, to confront poverty, unemployment, the lack of decent wages and without the possibility of accessing decent housing,” said the Spanish parliamentarian, who repeats the position she has already held in the outgoing legislature of the European Parliament.

Spanish politics has advocated combining economic growth with social cohesion, insisting that this is the way to reduce inequality. “Growth, innovation and competitiveness will only make sense if we can guarantee our workers decent jobs with better salaries, invest in public housing and end poverty and social exclusion,” he defended.

He has also opted to build the Defense Union and in foreign matters he has indicated that the social democrats have to contribute to “the end of the war in Ukraine and peace in the Middle East.”

“After each crisis, our Union emerges more integrated and more united. We believe, now more than ever, that unity is strength and that it is worth fighting for unity to allow us to lead progress,” assured Iratxe García.

After the European elections, the Social Democrats have shown themselves willing to support the re-election of the ‘popular’ Ursula von der Leyen as head of the European Commission in the next legislature and set a red line that German politics should not agree with Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Identity and Democracy (ID), the groups of Giorgia Meloni and Marine Le Pen in the European Parliament.