Clinton to question UK Conservatives on controversial EU allies

The U.S. secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, will meet the British opposition’s foreign secretary, William Hague, today. Clinton is expected to raise the Conservative party’s alliance with far-right, allegedly anti-semitic members of the EU.

David Cameron’s Conservative Party, who look on track to become the next government of the United Kingdom, decided to abandon the mainstream European People’s Party to form a new coalition, the European Conservatives and Reformists. The new group is led by Michal Kaminski of Poland’s Law and Justice Party, and includes the Latvian party For Fatherland and Freedom. Both have provoked anger due to their alleged racism: various members of For Fatherland and Freedom are known to commemorate Latvian units in Hitler’s Waffen-SS in an annual service, while Michal Kaminski’s controversial remarks include questioning the need for Poland to apologize for the 1941 pogrom at Jedwabne, in which at least 300 Polish Jews were massacred. The Obama administration is reportedly set to voice its concern at this development during a meeting with Hague in Washington, responding not only on behalf of furious anti-racism groups in America but also acting out of a fear that Cameron’s choice will weaken the Conservatives’ position in the EU.