Belgium New right-wing parliamentary group formed in the EU Parliament

The right-wing alliance "Patriots for Europe", launched by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban almost a week ago, is forming a new political group in the European Parliament. In addition to Orban's Fidesz party, the right-wing nationalist Rassemblement National from France, the nationalist Lega, which is part of Italy's government, and the anti-immigration FPÖ from Austria are also part of the group, as representatives of the new alliance said after the founding meeting in Brussels. The German AfD will not be a member for the time being.

The Frenchman Jordan Bardella is to become group leader. The group must now inform Parliament President Roberta Metsola of the formation. It is then expected to be officially confirmed at next week's plenary session in Strasbourg. At least 23 MEPs from at least 7 countries are required to form a political group in the European Parliament. According to its own figures, the new group will be the third largest behind the Social Democrats and the center-right EPP alliance, which also includes the CDU and CSU. By its own reckoning, the group comprises 84 MEPs. It is made up of MEPs from twelve countries.

Orban, who is also the leader of the Hungarian ruling party Fidesz, the leader of the right-wing Austrian FPÖ, Herbert Kickl, and the leader of the populist Czech ANO, Andrej Babis, announced the "Patriots for Europe" alliance in Vienna just over a week ago. According to Orban, the new group is intended to "change Europe, even against the will of the Brussels elites". Orban recently drew criticism from many EU states with a trip to Moscow. Hungary took over the six-month rotating presidency of the EU Council on July 1.

A "Patriotic Manifesto" of the alliance contains the well-known positions of right-wing, right-wing populist and far-right parties: Rejection of migration and the "Green Deal", no support for Ukraine, which is under attack from Russia, and dismantling integration in the EU in order to strengthen the sovereignty of nation states.

Merger of many far-right parties

The FPÖ has been an established political force in Austria for decades and is currently on the rise. Thanks to their anti-migration stance, the right-wing populists have a good chance of coming first in the National Council elections in the fall. ANO founder, former prime minister and billionaire Andrej Babis has been seeking to join forces with Viktor Orban for some time. If parliamentary elections were held in the Czech Republic today, the populist ANO would be by far the strongest force.

Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National became the strongest force in France in the European elections with a clear lead. In the subsequent re-election of the French parliament, however, the right-wing nationalists unexpectedly only came third. For years, Le Pen has been trying to "demonize" the RN and distance it from its far-right history and the Holocaust trivialization of party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen. In doing so, it has made the party electable far into the middle class.

The Fidesz party has been in power in Hungary without interruption since 2010. It had to make significant losses in the European elections, but has nevertheless remained the strongest party. The right-wing populists oppose the admission of refugees and have been criticized for dismantling the rule of law, clientelism and the control of the free media.

Since the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the pro-Kremlin stance of party leader and Prime Minister Orban has become increasingly clear, including his surprise visit to Putin a few days ago.

Parties from Italy, Spain and the Netherlands also present

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini's Lega has been in government in Rome together with two other right-wing parties since October 2022. The right-wing populist Salvini became known in previous years as Minister of the Interior for his extremely harsh actions against refugees in the Mediterranean and against aid organizations. His hopes of becoming prime minister have not yet been fulfilled. In the European elections, the Lega plummeted from 34% (2019) to just 9%.

Vox is in opposition in Spain and wants a Europe of "free and sovereign fatherlands". The party propagates pride in its own nation, a preference for domestic products, restrictions on free trade and an end to illegal immigration. It also attracts attention by defaming immigrants, who are often described as criminals and only interested in social benefits. The traditional family is supposed to be the nucleus of a state that is run in a strictly centralized manner and only has national interests in mind.

Parties from other smaller EU countries also want to join in. These include the radical right-wing party of Dutchman Geert Wilders, the right-wing populist Danish People's Party and Belgium's radical right-wing Vlaams Belang. The right-wing populist party Chega (Enough is enough) from Portugal, which was founded in 2019, has also expressed its interest.

The AfD remains on the sidelines

The German AfD, which was excluded from the right-wing nationalist ID group before the European elections, does not initially see its place in the ranks of the new alliance around Orban. AfD leader Alice Weidel ruled this out last Tuesday. They are in talks, but that is not an option at the moment. She spoke of a strategic long-term project. "We are friends, we have incredible overlaps in terms of content, but both parties are subject to political, foreign policy and foreign trade constraints that we have to take into account at the moment," said the AfD leader when asked whether her party was not wanted in the alliance.

Expected to be the third strongest force in parliament

The leader of the German SPD MPs, René Repasi, sees the new alliance primarily as a weakening of Italy's head of government, Giorgia Meloni. Her party belongs to the right-wing conservative EKR parliamentary group, which will no longer be the third-strongest force due to the new right-wing alliance.

SDA