The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) are within touching distance of becoming the European Parliament’s third largest grouping, after bringing in two more members this week.

Bulgarian MEPs Elena Yoncheva and Taner Kabilov joined the national conservative group on Tuesday, bringing the ECR’s total number of deputies to 84, just one shy of the Patriots for Europe, who have 85.

ECR are currently in fourth place, trailing the European People’s Party, the Socialists & Democrats, and the Patriots, who are led by Jordan Bardella, the president of National Rally in France.

If the ECR manages to jump into the fourth spot it will put it in a stronger position for the midterms in January 2027, when all the top jobs in Parliament – at least theoretically – will be up for grabs again.

“The continued growth of our group is an encouraging signal that we will play an even more important role in the future,” Nicola Procaccini, the group’s co-chair, said in a press release.

ECR has been pursuing a deliberate expansion strategy, having welcomed Czech member Nikola Bartůšek last month, and two Dutch politicians from an agrarian party earlier this year.

Peevski’s new European home

The ECR’s new members are both from a Bulgarian party called the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, led by controversial oligarch Delyan Peevski.

MRF was kicked out of the liberal Renew grouping, and the broader liberal political family, last year amid concerns about the influence of Peevski, who’s sanctioned over corruption by the US and Britain under the Magnitsky act. The British government accused him of attempting to exert influence over state institutions through bribery and use of his media empire.

The addition of Yoncheva to the Polish-dominated ECR – which prides itself on its tough approach to Russia – has raised eyebrows in Parliament, since the Bulgarian has taken a somewhat softer stance on Moscow than many of her new colleagues.

This is the third political home for Yoncheva, who spent most of her first term in the Parliament in the S&D grouping as a member of the Bulgarian socialist party, before a brief stint in Renew in 2024.

Both Yoncheva and Kabilov have been non-attached since then. Joining a political group gives MEP the chance to work on legislation.

(bw)