Elena Yoncheva and Taner Kabilov Join ECR Group.

This was announced at the start of today’s plenary session by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.

Until the end of 2024, Yoncheva and Kabilov were part of the European liberal group Renew Europe. After the conflict between Delyan Peevski and Ahmed Dogan over DPS began, the European liberals requested the expulsion of Peevski’s formation.

Until now, the two MEPs had been independent members of the European Parliament. They remained independent until today’s inclusion in the ranks of the European conservatives.

With the accession of Yoncheva and Kabilov, the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament grows to 84 representatives from a total of 19 countries.

It is the fourth-largest political family in the European Parliament. Until now, it had one Bulgarian representative — Ivaylo Valchev from There Is Such a People, who announced last night that he opposed the accession of Yoncheva and Kabilov.

According to him, the argument that every political group in the European Parliament seeks opportunities to expand in order to gain greater influence is not a sufficient reason for admitting them.

Valchev also said there are two ways to admit new members. The first is following a proposal from the ECR bureau and with the support of the national delegation in the group from the respective country.

I did not give my consent and explained the reasons for this decision to the group, he stressed.