Petras Gražulis, a Lithuanian politician recently elected to the European Parliament who wanted to join the European Conservatives and Reformists group, has so far received a negative response from the group’s leadership.
“They have asked me to explain why I have been expelled from the Seimas [Lithuanian parliament]. I said I would give them [the explanation], but now I’m thinking, why should I? Maybe I won’t be explaining anything... In short, there are other options where you don’t have to explain anything to anyone,” Gražulis told LRT.lt.
Gražulis was impeached and stripped of his seat in the Lithuanian parliament last year because he was found to have cast a vote for another MP. He is now barred from running for any elected office in Lithuania for ten years.
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Gražulis is best known for his opposition to LGBTQ+ rights.
He was elected to the European Parliament with the Nation and Justice Union, the party’s only seat. After he was elected, Gražulis said he felt an affinity to the European Conservatives and Reformists Group and would like to join it. He also said that he would most like to work in the field of human rights.
The core of this group is made up of far-right politicians, such as Poland’s Law and Justice and the Italian prime minister’s Brothers of Italy party.
When asked which group he would join if not the ECR, Gražulis said he had not yet made up his mind.
“There are a number of anti-systemic groups: anti-conservative, anti-social-democratic, anti-liberal. I won’t give names yet. As in Lithuania, there is also the possibility of being in a non-attached group, so maybe I will be there,” he said.
According to LRT.lt sources, the politician will try to apply for the Identity and Democracy Group in the EP. The group is dominated by the French far-right National Rally.
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