Faced with his failure to “occupy Brussels” during the last European elections and to counter the main Member States, particularly on the unfortunate issues of the war in Ukraine, immigration and ecology, Viktor Orban took advantage of the start of the rotating Hungarian presidency of the EU to announce the establishment of his parliamentary group. When the news was announced, he already had the support of Herbert Kickl, leader of the Austrian nationalist party (FPÖ), Andrej Babis, former Czech Prime Minister and founder of a centrist movement (ANO 2011) and Chega, a Portuguese far-right party.
RN and Orban join forces against the “confiscation of sovereignty”
“This new political force (…) will soon be the largest right-wing party in the European Parliament,” Orban said, insisting on his plan to “fight the Brussels elite” who did not “understand the wishes of the voters. (…) This alliance intends to fight against war, migration, inflation and the European Green Deal,” he explained.
For its part, the RN had struck a blow in France during the European elections. The party and its president, Jorban Bardella, had taken the lion’s share, or 31.47% of the votes cast. As soon as the results were announced, President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the National Assembly. While the National Rally came out on top in the first round on June 30, it fell to third place in the second round on Sunday, behind the New Popular Front and Ensemble.
This is not a big deal in Marine Le Pen’s eyes. “The tide is rising, it did not rise high enough this time, but it continues to rise. Our victory is only delayed,” she reacted. While waiting for this, the RN announced, on Sunday evening, its rallying to the new group of “Patriots for Europe”.
As a reminder, its MEPs were already sitting in the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, co-founded in 2019. The largest delegation in terms of number with around thirty elected representatives, the RN will legitimately lead this new parliamentary group. Jordan Bardella was elected president yesterday morning. This group, he claims, “will weigh in the balance of power in Europe, to refuse migratory submersion, punitive ecology and the confiscation of our sovereignty”. “From Monday, our MEPs will fully play their role in an important group”, he added.
This rally was in the air. In May, Marine Le Pen announced the break between the RN and its German ally, the AfD, and the ID group confirmed the exclusion of the German party in the process. The event foreshadowed a recomposition of the so-called conservative or nationalist forces in Brussels.
The 3rd parliamentary group faces the “sanitary cordon”
With this new composition, “Patriots for Europe” become the third largest parliamentary group in Brussels. The EPP, from which Ursula von der Leyen, current President of the European Commission (EC) and well on the way to being re-elected, comes, as well as the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, maintaining control over the European Parliament with around 400 MEPs.
However, the “Patriots for Europe”, which the Spanish Vox have joined, who are slamming the door on the ECR group of Giorgia Meloni and the Polish PiS, are overtaking the Renew group, which includes the Macronist MEPs. The coalition of the Italian Prime Minister, who refused to join forces with the RN and the Hungarian Prime Minister for its positions deemed favorable to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is also the other group overtaken by Viktor Orban’s initiative.
Jordan Bardella’s vice-president, Hungarian Kinga Gal, an MEP since 2004 with the EPP, expressed the ambition of the “Patriots for Europe”. “We intend to have positions that correspond to the millions of voters we represent,” she said in Brussels on Monday, in the absence of the RN president.
Valérie Hayer, chairwoman of the Renew group, announced her intention to counter Orban and his allies. “Our line is extremely clear, we do not negotiate with the extreme right (…) Of course, we will use the cordon sanitaire again,” she said, referring to the strategy aimed at excluding elected members of the ID group from obtaining responsibilities within the institution. (ER: Once again, conveniently forgetting to mention the exclusion of the millions of people these groupings represent!)
With Hungary holding the EU presidency and the “Patriots of Europe” in Parliament, Viktor Orban, the RN and their new allies intend to weigh in and slow down the work of the 27, particularly on aid to Ukraine, immigration and ecology.
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