| Proponents of Machiavellian thought often regard politics as a struggle for power in which values and morality take a backseat and are only evoked when they serve the ultimate goal. The European Socialists have recently shown that this logic does not apply in all situations. There are countless examples at the EU level where the Realpolitik-approach trumped moral considerations: from EPP leader Manfred Weber’s charm offensive towards Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, all the way to the Greens seriously considering admitting the populist Italian Five Star Movement into their ranks. Ahead of next June’s European elections, many European parties seem to be fishing in foreign waters to get a few more seats once election turmoil is over, especially the newcomer parties being courted by the different groups in the European Parliament. However, Thursday’s announcement by the Party of European Socialists (PES) seems to buck this trend. Instead of sacrificing the moral compass to gain more leverage at the European level, the Socialists stuck to their principles and expelled the two Slovak Socialist parties, Smer and Hlas, over their attempts to build a coalition at home with the far right. Robert Fico’s Smer, who won the Slovak election two weeks ago in a landslide, turned out to be a particular thorn in the European Socialists’ side. | 
