European Parliament votes for probe into Europe of Sovereign Nations political party
The European Parliament decided by 414 votes to 224 and 18 abstentions to request the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations (APPF) to verify whether the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) political party complies with the registration and funding conditions laid down in the Regulation on the statute and funding of European political parties and foundations.
The Europe of Sovereign Nations party is a far-right, ultra-conservative party founded in August 2024 by a number of far-right, Eurosceptic and populist parties including Bulgaria’s Vuzrazhdane.
The procedure was triggered after the APPF — the independent EU authority responsible for registering, controlling, and sanctioning European political organisations — informed the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission of facts casting doubt on ESN’s compliance with EU values, as it is required to do.
The three institutions have two months to decide whether to lodge a verification request.
The European Parliament’s vote is a procedural step and does not constitute a position on the substance
The independent authority will now verify ESN’s compliance with core EU values, such as democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights (a prerequisite for registration as a European political party) in line with the procedure set out in Article 13 of the regulation.
Democratic scrutiny is key in this process: decisions to deregister a political party can only enter into force in the absence of an objection by the European Parliament or the Council of the EU.
Although a political group under the same name exists in the European Parliament (i.e. MEPs who sit and vote together in the chamber), the parliamentary group is legally and functionally distinct from the ESN political party, which is subject to separate EU rules.
Under Article 10(4) of the Treaty on European Union, European political parties are key instruments for forming European political awareness and expressing the will of Union citizens.
This is the first time this procedure has been initiated.
The revised EU regulation on European political parties and foundations, which the European Parliament approved in October 2025, tightened up the rules on transparency, foreign interference, and the protection of European values.
