EU’s largest far-right bloc makes show of force in Madrid

MADRID: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and France’s Marine Le Pen headlined a rally in Madrid on Saturday by Europe’s biggest far-right bloc, buoyed by electoral gains and Donald Trump’s return to power.

Patriots for Europe has realigned extreme-right forces in the European Union. It became the European Parliament’s third-largest force after Orban helped launch it last year to pull the bloc towards the far right.

Among the leading extreme-right nationalists taking to the stage are Orban, Le Pen, Dutch anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilders, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and former Czech premier Andrej Babis.

In a joint statement, the parties condemned what they called “climate fanaticism”, “illegal immigration” and “excessive regulation” in the EU.

The 27-nation bloc needed to make a “180-degree turn”, said Spanish party Vox, which is hosting the rally.

Vox said around 2,000 people were attending the event, following a dinner on Friday for Patriots leaders and Kevin Roberts, head of ultra-conservative US think tank The Heritage Foundation.

After last year’s European Parliament elections in which far-right parties performed strongly in several countries, Saturday’s gathering was designed to be “a show of force”, said Steven Forti, a researcher at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

It would also serve to promote the Patriots turf war with other far-right groups in the EU assembly, he said.

The European elections saw the Patriots win 86 of the parliament’s 720 seats. It overtook the European Conservatives and Reformists group, led by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s neo-Fascist Brothers of Italy party, which won 80 seats. It also overshadowed the smaller far-right Europe of Sovereign Nations group, which includes Germany’s ascendant AfD and which won 26 seats.

Patriots for Europe is seeking to “show its central place in the competition” with rival extreme-right groups, Forti told AFP. Neither Meloni, nor AfD representatives attended Saturday’s rally.

Forti said the Patriots wanted “to take advantage of the wave triggered by Trump’s victory and the shock in the European Union” his measures have caused in order to reshape the balance in Europe.

They shared with Trump a wish to weaken the EU, Forti said.

The summit in the Spanish capital has adopted the slogan “Make Europe Great Again”, a nod to Trump’s rallying cry “Make America Great Again”.

Orban is seen as one of Trump’s closest EU allies, while Vox leader Santiago Abascal has highlighted the ideological affinity between the group and Trump, especially on immigration.

But Trump’s threats, from slapping prohibitive tariffs on European goods to annexing Denmark’s gigantic Arctic territory of Greenland, could embarrass nationalist parties in Europe.

“Liking Donald Trump’s patriotism does not mean being the vassal of the United States,” Jordan Bardella, leader of France’s National Rally (NR) said last month. The NR, whose figurehead is Le Pen, leads the Patriots group in the European Parliament.