Strange marriage? Pirate Party MEP joins the Greens

Sometimes the oddest couples are the most successful.  Will this be one of them?

The Swedish Pirate Party MEP Christian Engström will join the Greens/European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament, according to a statement issued by the Greens Thursday June 25. 

The day also saw the Green coalition elect Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Rebecca Harms from Germany as co-presidents of the group, and nominate Belgian Isabelle Durant as candidate for vice-president of the European Parliament.

The announcement issued in the name of the joint presidents of the Greens/EFA said that the Pirate Party, which is against the criminalisation of downloading songs and videos from the internet, shared the Greens/EFA group’s “principles and values in defending internet users’ rights”.

Not a one way relationship though, as the statement said that Engström would support the Greens/EFA position in other policy areas where the Pirate Party had no agenda.   

That is most policy areas.  Not a bad arrangement at all then.