A conference this month aims to unite European far-right leaders in a continentwide alliance. What would once have been a fringe grouping can now rely on the support of several EU governments.
At the beginning of September, Santiago Abascal, the president of Spain’s far-right Vox party, announced that his country had been chosen to host the next summit of “patriotic leaders and European conservatives” to be held this month. The meeting, likely staged in Madrid, represents the next step in these forces’ bid to mainstream themselves as a “conservative” bloc in European politics, palatable to a broader right-wing audience.
This is not just an alliance of fringe opposition forces, but one that already holds power in several European capitals. Indeed, the last such meeting was held in Warsaw, Poland, on December 4, under the auspices of Jarosław Kaczyński, president of the ruling Law and Justice party. The meeting at the Hotel Regent brought together such hard-right luminaries as Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki (also from Kaczyński’s party), his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán, Rassemblement National leader Marine Le Pen, as well as Abascal and far-right leaders from Flanders and Estonia.
The summit resulted in a brief one-page statement denouncing the status quo in the European Union. It attacked the “disturbing idea” of a Europe “governed by a self-appointed elite.” The document highlighted how this elite carries out “arbitrary application of European law” and a continentwide programme of “social engineering” aimed at “separating people from their culture and heritage.”
But if the language was stark, what was especially notable about this summit is that it was the first official meeting bringing together representatives from both groups to the right of the European People’s Party (EPP), the main Christian Democratic force in the European Parliament. While some leading far-right forces (such as Matteo Salvini’s League and the Alternative for Germany, AfD) were absent, the summit pointed to strengthening relations between the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR, a group previously including the British Tories) and the more nakedly far-right Identity and Democracy (ID), as well as Orbán’s Fidesz party, unaffiliated at the European level since its departure from the EPP in March.
The parties involved in these groupings come from different political traditions and in some cases even compete electorally at the national level. But if the tensions among these forces have long justified the existence of two rival currents in the European Parliament, that could be history after this month’s summit, as they plan the creation of a “supergroup” uniting the hard and far right of European politics.
Supergroup
Already in December’s Warsaw declaration, the signatory parties committed themselves to “closer cooperation in the European Parliament, including the organisation of joint meetings and the coordination of voting.”
Le Pen expressed her conviction that this unprecedented goal was within reach: “We can be optimistic about the creation of this political force in the coming months,” the Rassemblement National president commented. This aim was shared by Orbán, speaking to press before the meeting: “We have been working for months to create a strong family of parties. I hope that we can take a step in this direction.”
As Miguel Urbán, a member of the European Parliament for the left-wing Anticapitalistas, explained in a Twitter thread, Orbán is indeed key to the formation of this “supergroup.” He provides a bridge between hard-right governments in Central-Eastern Europe and the far right in the Mediterranean, not least given his close personal relations with both Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party and former Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini. Yet this also owes to the international projection and prestige of the Hungarian prime minister, hailed by such figures as Tucker Carlson, among the base of both ECR and ID parties. If Salvini had already bid to create a similar hard-right alliance in the buildup to the 2019 European elections, the changed political context is driving these forces finally to make the leap.
Also read: France’s Far Right Is Setting the Agenda Because the Mainstream Allows It To
Now or never
There are ideological obstacles to such a pact, even if they may seem trivial to many observers who see all such forces as one homogeneous “populist right”. These parties lay different emphases on political and religious traditionalism and have divergences on foreign policy, being particularly divided over their relations with Russia and, to a lesser degree, China.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also opened up divisions: some court the anti-vax movement and its conspiracy theories more openly than others, such as Le Pen and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, who have instead taken a more ambiguous stance, focused on criticising lockdown measures. Illustrating the contradictions, Orbán — figurehead of the most staunchly anti-communist hard right — nonetheless received the Sinovac jab, as part of Budapest’s relatively good relations with China.
While such differences may be papered over for the sake of unity, there are also practical issues: the ECR grouping was in part consolidated as an alternative to ID, which has in recent years been characterised by internal instability and multiple fallings-out among its constituent parties. So, if these forces are now getting together, what’s changed?
On the one hand, after years in which they experienced significant electoral growth, many of these parties seem to have plateaued, and could do with a political and media boost. It seems that one of the figures with most to gain from such a “supergroup” uniting the hard right is Marine Le Pen. While she aspires to again reach the second round of the French presidential elections this April, she faces unwelcome competition from pundit Éric Zemmour, whose new Reconquest! (Reconquête!) vehicle risks splitting the far-right vote and allowing other candidates to sneak through.
There are double standards. A politician like Orban would not be seen as far-right or illiberal or whatever if he was a western politician. He is being vilified for denying state funding to anti-state media, yet censorship in the west is cool. All Anglo-Saxon countries have super strict immigration rules, yet they demand Hungary to open borders. They demand eastern EU countries give up any control over their internal issues, yet they are so hysterical about alleged foreign influence at home. This is just imperial bullying.
When it comes to Marine Le Pen, she seems to be far was less xenophobic than Macron. She defended French Muslims on several occasions when Macron attack them. But she is not bowing to global banks and monopolies.
Europeanisation of the far right in other words.
Who cares at the end of the day there will be internal conflict among them. How will Poland be ok with Orban calling for sanctions to be removed from russia and belarus, while they want to be stronger on russia. How will Poland respond to Le Pen being a russian puppet.
Let them re-unite it will be an utter failure and fall. John McCain already predictaed it before in 2013/2014 when Orban defended Russian annexation of Ukraine.
The little meetup they do is just a coping situation on their combined failure. Deep down everybody knows electing these folks will result in the empowerment of Putin.
As long as decent powerhouses remain free from a far right, like the UK for example, things will go on fine. Nobody will be affected by the visegrad falling into the far right.
An example I always give is the PIS grifters, on social media you can see many of them mocking the U.S. Military calling it woke, yet all vote for more U.S. troops in Poland. Let em bark
An international band of nationalists
Well they have some valid points. Maybe listen more and hate less.
the racist homophobic gang union
It’s only natural that people who promote unity and support will tend to help and integrate their efforts with each other. The left could learn a lot from them, like not devouring each other for a change.
It’s depressing how weak the left is in the European Parliament that these regressive forces could become the second largest group.
That Orban photo is epic!
It’s depressing but if that’s what the voters want they should have their shot if and when they become predominant.
11 comments
A conference this month aims to unite European far-right leaders in a continentwide alliance. What would once have been a fringe grouping can now rely on the support of several EU governments.
At the beginning of September, Santiago Abascal, the president of Spain’s far-right Vox party, announced that his country had been chosen to host the next summit of “patriotic leaders and European conservatives” to be held this month. The meeting, likely staged in Madrid, represents the next step in these forces’ bid to mainstream themselves as a “conservative” bloc in European politics, palatable to a broader right-wing audience.
This is not just an alliance of fringe opposition forces, but one that already holds power in several European capitals. Indeed, the last such meeting was held in Warsaw, Poland, on December 4, under the auspices of Jarosław Kaczyński, president of the ruling Law and Justice party. The meeting at the Hotel Regent brought together such hard-right luminaries as Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki (also from Kaczyński’s party), his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán, Rassemblement National leader Marine Le Pen, as well as Abascal and far-right leaders from Flanders and Estonia.
The summit resulted in a brief one-page statement denouncing the status quo in the European Union. It attacked the “disturbing idea” of a Europe “governed by a self-appointed elite.” The document highlighted how this elite carries out “arbitrary application of European law” and a continentwide programme of “social engineering” aimed at “separating people from their culture and heritage.”
But if the language was stark, what was especially notable about this summit is that it was the first official meeting bringing together representatives from both groups to the right of the European People’s Party (EPP), the main Christian Democratic force in the European Parliament. While some leading far-right forces (such as Matteo Salvini’s League and the Alternative for Germany, AfD) were absent, the summit pointed to strengthening relations between the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR, a group previously including the British Tories) and the more nakedly far-right Identity and Democracy (ID), as well as Orbán’s Fidesz party, unaffiliated at the European level since its departure from the EPP in March.
The parties involved in these groupings come from different political traditions and in some cases even compete electorally at the national level. But if the tensions among these forces have long justified the existence of two rival currents in the European Parliament, that could be history after this month’s summit, as they plan the creation of a “supergroup” uniting the hard and far right of European politics.
Supergroup
Already in December’s Warsaw declaration, the signatory parties committed themselves to “closer cooperation in the European Parliament, including the organisation of joint meetings and the coordination of voting.”
Le Pen expressed her conviction that this unprecedented goal was within reach: “We can be optimistic about the creation of this political force in the coming months,” the Rassemblement National president commented. This aim was shared by Orbán, speaking to press before the meeting: “We have been working for months to create a strong family of parties. I hope that we can take a step in this direction.”
As Miguel Urbán, a member of the European Parliament for the left-wing Anticapitalistas, explained in a Twitter thread, Orbán is indeed key to the formation of this “supergroup.” He provides a bridge between hard-right governments in Central-Eastern Europe and the far right in the Mediterranean, not least given his close personal relations with both Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party and former Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini. Yet this also owes to the international projection and prestige of the Hungarian prime minister, hailed by such figures as Tucker Carlson, among the base of both ECR and ID parties. If Salvini had already bid to create a similar hard-right alliance in the buildup to the 2019 European elections, the changed political context is driving these forces finally to make the leap.
Also read: France’s Far Right Is Setting the Agenda Because the Mainstream Allows It To
Now or never
There are ideological obstacles to such a pact, even if they may seem trivial to many observers who see all such forces as one homogeneous “populist right”. These parties lay different emphases on political and religious traditionalism and have divergences on foreign policy, being particularly divided over their relations with Russia and, to a lesser degree, China.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also opened up divisions: some court the anti-vax movement and its conspiracy theories more openly than others, such as Le Pen and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, who have instead taken a more ambiguous stance, focused on criticising lockdown measures. Illustrating the contradictions, Orbán — figurehead of the most staunchly anti-communist hard right — nonetheless received the Sinovac jab, as part of Budapest’s relatively good relations with China.
While such differences may be papered over for the sake of unity, there are also practical issues: the ECR grouping was in part consolidated as an alternative to ID, which has in recent years been characterised by internal instability and multiple fallings-out among its constituent parties. So, if these forces are now getting together, what’s changed?
On the one hand, after years in which they experienced significant electoral growth, many of these parties seem to have plateaued, and could do with a political and media boost. It seems that one of the figures with most to gain from such a “supergroup” uniting the hard right is Marine Le Pen. While she aspires to again reach the second round of the French presidential elections this April, she faces unwelcome competition from pundit Éric Zemmour, whose new Reconquest! (Reconquête!) vehicle risks splitting the far-right vote and allowing other candidates to sneak through.
There are double standards. A politician like Orban would not be seen as far-right or illiberal or whatever if he was a western politician. He is being vilified for denying state funding to anti-state media, yet censorship in the west is cool. All Anglo-Saxon countries have super strict immigration rules, yet they demand Hungary to open borders. They demand eastern EU countries give up any control over their internal issues, yet they are so hysterical about alleged foreign influence at home. This is just imperial bullying.
When it comes to Marine Le Pen, she seems to be far was less xenophobic than Macron. She defended French Muslims on several occasions when Macron attack them. But she is not bowing to global banks and monopolies.
Europeanisation of the far right in other words.
Who cares at the end of the day there will be internal conflict among them. How will Poland be ok with Orban calling for sanctions to be removed from russia and belarus, while they want to be stronger on russia. How will Poland respond to Le Pen being a russian puppet.
Let them re-unite it will be an utter failure and fall. John McCain already predictaed it before in 2013/2014 when Orban defended Russian annexation of Ukraine.
The little meetup they do is just a coping situation on their combined failure. Deep down everybody knows electing these folks will result in the empowerment of Putin.
As long as decent powerhouses remain free from a far right, like the UK for example, things will go on fine. Nobody will be affected by the visegrad falling into the far right.
An example I always give is the PIS grifters, on social media you can see many of them mocking the U.S. Military calling it woke, yet all vote for more U.S. troops in Poland. Let em bark
An international band of nationalists
Well they have some valid points. Maybe listen more and hate less.
the racist homophobic gang union
It’s only natural that people who promote unity and support will tend to help and integrate their efforts with each other. The left could learn a lot from them, like not devouring each other for a change.
It’s depressing how weak the left is in the European Parliament that these regressive forces could become the second largest group.
That Orban photo is epic!
It’s depressing but if that’s what the voters want they should have their shot if and when they become predominant.