Social Democrat member of the European Parliament, Christel Schaldemose, sharply criticizes Anders Vistisen from the Danish People’s Party (Dansk Folkeparti) for his significant absence in the committees he is a part of in the European Parliament. Vistisen, who has portrayed himself as the ‘guard dog of the Danes’ in Brussels, has reportedly been absent for 128 out of 138 possible meeting days according to new information. Christel Schaldemose expresses her astonishment at Vistisen’s absence and argues that it is not possible to function as an effective guard dog if one does not attend the relevant meetings. “You can’t be a guard dog if you don’t show up for duty. There’s a reason why the rest of us participate in these meetings, and that’s because this is where things get done. Frankly, his absence is outrageously high, and his defense for not showing up makes no sense,” she says.
Vistisen has defended himself by stating that he does not consider committee work in Brussels to be important and instead has prioritized his time on leadership work in the Identity and Democracy group (ID-gruppen) in the parliament. The Identity and Democracy group, which the Danish People’s Party is a part of, includes, among others, Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party from the Netherlands and Marine Le Pen’s party, Rassemblement National, from France. Despite his significant absence, Vistisen has been active on Facebook, frequently posting about his work in the European Parliament. In the first three months of this year, he has been absent for 14 meeting days in his committees, but has still posted updates about them on 13 of those days on his Facebook page.
Schaldemose, however, does not believe that this contributes to actual work in the parliament. “You don’t change things on Facebook. The rest of us also do other things besides sitting in meetings, and showing up does not exclude the possibility of discussing the EU in the media and on Facebook,” she says. Former SF (Socialist People’s Party) chairman, Villy Søvndal, who is also running for the European Parliament election, has also expressed his criticism of Vistisen, calling him a “very lazy guard dog.” Søvndal points out that Vistisen shows an arrogance that is palpable and accuses him of fooling the voters.
On the other hand, the leader of the Danish People’s Party, Morten Messerschmidt, has defended Vistisen. This comes at a time when a new poll by Megafon shows that the Danish People’s Party is set to receive 5.1 percent of the votes, but does not seem to secure a seat in the European Parliament, as the party is not part of an electoral alliance.