Spanish election threatens to blow up Brussels’ political balance – POLITICO

BRUSSELS — A defeat for Pedro Sánchez in Spain’s snap election risks destabilizing the EU by putting the Socialists and Democrats on the back foot in Brussels and pushing them into a more confrontational stance.

Sánchez, the only Socialist-aligned leader currently running a large EU country, has provided a center-left counterweight to decisions in a Council largely dominated by the center right. Spain’s lawmakers form the S&D’s largest national delegation in the European Parliament, and when Sánchez strikes a Council deal, Spanish MEPs can usually carry his position through the group, even over internal opposition.

A change of government in Madrid would disrupt that arrangement, senior S&D lawmakers told POLITICO. Polls suggest that the country will vote in an administration led by the center-right People’s Party, which would likely partner with the far-right Vox party.