Lisa O'Carroll

An EU commissioner has launched a scathing attack on Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president who is seeking a second term, branding her leadership style “unacceptable”.

Nicolas Schmit, the lead candidate for the socialist bloc in this week’s European parliamentary elections, lifted the lid on the behind-the-scenes deal she had hashed out with Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni over migration from Tunisia last summer.

The deal, which offered money to Tunis, in exchange for clamping down on people smugglers, was sprung on the commissioners without notice.

“It came on a Friday afternoon and we had one hour to say no. If after one hour, you hadn’t said anything it was yes. This is unacceptable,” the Luxembourger told the Financial Times.

He said the way Tunisia treats refugees is “just shocking”, contrasting the deal with Turkey in 2016, where he said EU money was given to NGOs rather than security forces.

Schmit has previous criticised von der Leyen but not in such an explicit way.

He was recently one of the three commissioners, including French commissioner Thierry Breton, who criticised the president for the way in which she hired a small business envoy.

He also said the socialists would not be backing von der Leyen for a second term as European Commission president if she did a deal with the radical right wing political group in parliament, the European Reformists and Conservatives (ECR).

Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer told the FT the process around decisions was “collegial”.

Piotr Stolecki, a candidate for Poland 2050 – part of the Third Way alliance – said in a phone interview that “we are very worried about the turnout.”

“There is a fatigue,” he said, adding that “the political parties were very late with the with the European campaign.”

“We are trying to maximise the turnout by constantly messaging people through social media, through media, that those elections are very, very important because of the situation in Europe, because of the situation in Ukraine, etc. And not to let too many populist and right-wing parties to win the seats,” he added.

“There is a big push right now,” Stolecki noted.

Poland’s Law and Justice is a key member of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European parliament.

There has been significant speculation that the ECR will evolve in the next European parliament – and that it could take on new members such as Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, which is currently not a member of any European political family.

Asked about the possible expansion of the ECR, Anna Fotyga, a longtime member of the European parliament and Law and Justice, said:

“I’m experienced enough to wait for election results,” she said, adding: “it is very difficult to calculate earlier.”

Fotyga said she was “disappointed” by changes within the ECR as a result of Brexit, noting that it had a “very good composition” with the British conservatives. “Yet we managed to keep the balance,” she said.

“Of course, we are happy with prospects of expanding the group, but simply wait for the final results,” she said.

Robert Biedroń, a member of the European parliament from Poland’s New Left, said in an email that “if I should describe our goal in just one word, it would definitely be mobilisation and invitations of young voters to participate in the elections.”

“They must understand the power of change they possess,” he said.

He described his party’s priorities as “social housing, improvement of women’s rights (liberalisation of abortion law as of the top at the time being), offer for young people (stop to unpaid internships, one ticket for EU travel), and last but not least subjects restoring Polish democracy after 8 years of PiS government.”

Biedroń, who in the outgoing parliament chaired the committee on women’s rights and gender equality, added:

In face of rising populism the whole EU, the European parliament campaign is taking an exceptional significance.

The choice made on 9 of June will not only shape the new European parliament but also the future of the EU.

Therefore, every day we campaign to fight the anti- EU narratives and to strength the EU integration.

We’ll now move on to Poland, where citizens will be electing 53 members of the European parliament.

The latest polls show the centrist Civic Coalition with a narrow lead over the conservative Law and Justice.

Asked about speculation that the centre-right European People’s party would open up to cooperation with hard-right forces from the European Conservatives and Reformists group, Kokalari – whose Moderate party is a member of the EPP – said that “the whole logic in the European parliament is that we need to negotiate together and to reach compromises.”

“I think it will continue as it’s done before, that we try to reach compromises on legislation where we can find majorities. And in some issues, it will be with some party groups, and in some other issues, it will be others. So I don’t think that will change,” she said.

She added:

What will change, I hope is that the EPP group – my party group – will have a bigger chance to affect the European policies, because as the trend looks like the liberals and the left side of the parliament will be decreasing, and then we see the parties on the far right will increase, which means that from the EPP side, we will be able to – I hope – be the ones that everyone wants to talk to.

And I think that we are very much focused on delivering results for the citizens in Europe.

Kokalari stressed, however, that there are limits.

“But of course, we also have red lines,” she said, noting that Ursula von der Leyen and her party “have set red lines that we will not accept compromising or working with parties who are against Ukraine, against Europe and against democracy and the rule of law – that is the basis for us.”

Arba Kokalari, a candidate for Sweden’s centre-right Moderate party, told the Guardian that “there is a general higher awareness about the EU elections, and the importance to vote.”

In a phone interview, Kokalari, a member of the European parliament since 2019, noted that turnout in European elections is usually lower in Sweden than in national elections.

“But this time – and I’ve been in many campaigns, many European election campaigns, actually for the last 20 years – and this is the first time I feel that there is a much higher interest,” she said.

She added that “I think the reason for that is the Russian war in Ukraine, we’ve had the COVID pandemic … the importance of European cooperation, I think, has become very obvious and clear for the Swedish voters.”

Asked what issues voters are bringing up on the campaign trail, Kokalari said that “in general, it’s not particularly one issue that is dominating. It’s several concerns, and I would say that it’s the climate, it’s migration, it’s the fight against criminality, which is the most serious issue in Sweden right now, and of course, the support for Ukraine.”

Voters will go to the polls in Sweden on Sunday to elect 21 members of the European parliament.

The Social Democrats are leading in opinion polls. The far-right Sweden Democrats and centre-right Moderates are neck-to-neck for second place, according to the polls.

Evin Incir, a member of the European parliament from the Swedish Social Democratic party who is running for re-election, told the Guardian that she is “worried that the far-right, conservative and liberal groups will join forces” in the next European parliament.

“I hope that scenario won’t happen,” she said in a phone interview, adding that some of these groups have already come together to “shoot down” or “water down” climate and environment initiatives.

While as a social democrat her goal would be a “progressive” parliament, Incir said a “realistic” hope for the next European parliament would be a centrist coalition.

Good morning and welcome back to the Europe blog.

This week we’re focusing on campaigns across Europe ahead of this weekend’s elections.

Yesterday, we heard from candidates in Denmark and the Baltics.

Today, we will delve into campaigns in Sweden, Finland, Poland and more.

Send tips and comments to lili.bayer@theguardian.com.