Macron Gives Spanish Ally Cold Shoulder as Leaders Close Ranks

(Bloomberg) -- French President Emmanuel Macron closed ranks with his Spanish counterpart at the European Union summit Thursday to leave his liberal ally from Madrid with egg on his face.

Albert Rivera, head of the centrist party Ciudadanos, traveled to Brussels to meet with liberal leaders on the sidelines of the summit as he looks to burnish his credentials as the de facto leader of the opposition to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Spain.

Macron’s party belongs to the same group as Ciudadanos in the European Parliament and Rivera said the French president had congratulated him on his success in last month’s EU elections.

A French official denied any such thing had happened.

Macron’s relationship with Ciudadanos has been strained as the party tacked to the right for tactical reasons and forged pacts with that nationalist group Vox.

Sanchez and Macron have met multiple times over the past month to discuss their approach to the contest to lead the next European Commission. The Spanish leader told reporters their working relationship is fluid and they share a pro-European agenda. The two leaders met Thursday on the sidelines of the summit.

“Despite some of ideological differences that we may have, we share a basic principle that you can’t govern with nationalists and anti-European forces,” Sanchez said.

Macron’s European Affairs Minister Amelie de Montchalin told France Inter radio Ciudadanos needs to clarify its position with regards to Vox, describing it as a far-right organization.

To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Tadeo in Madrid at mtadeo@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Chad Thomas

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