How far-right groups have recomposed themselves

The former far-right parties, notably Identity and Democracy and the European Conservatives and Reformists, saw their cards reshuffled after the European elections in early June.

More numerous, but more divided. Organized on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 June, the European elections allowed the far right to gain ground in the European Union. Ultra-conservative parties such as the National Rally for France, PiS (Poland), Fratelli d’Italia (Italy) and AfD (Germany) together gained seats compared to the previous legislature. However, divisions appeared over the course of the campaign and materialized with the formation of three separate groups in the hemicycle, compared to two groups until then. The latest: the German far-right party AfD announced that it had formed a new group called “Europe of Sovereign Nations” on Wednesday 10 July. Franceinfo takes stock of the three far-right parties in the European Parliament, a few days before the first plenary session from 16 to 19 July in Strasbourg.

The Patriots for Europe group

This is a new group, born after the European elections in June. The Patriots for Europe have 84 MEPs, notably from the National Rally and the Fidesz of the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban. It is therefore the third force in the European Parliament, behind the pro-European right (EPP) and the social democrats (S&D). The leader of the French far-right party, Jordan Bardella, will be its president. Among its six vice-presidents is also a very controversial profile: the Italian general Roberto Vannacci, an admirer of Mussolini, suspended from his military duties in February after the publication of a racist and homophobic book.

The Patriots for Europe MPs are of 12 nationalities, with the RN representing the largest contingent with 30 elected members, compared to around ten for Fidesz. Viktor Orban had revealed on June 30 his intention to form this parliamentary group, in concert with the Austrian far-right party FPÖ and the movement of former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis. The Hungarian nationalist leader then aimed to make his positions heard: against military support for Ukraine – Viktor Orban recently went to Moscow – against “illegal immigration”for the “traditional family”. The RN elected officials thus enter a group “which is very clearly rather anti-EU, rather pro-Putin”summarized Tuesday on franceinfo Erwan Lecœur, sociologist specializing in the extreme right.

The Party for Freedom of the Dutch Geert Wilders, the Portuguese movement Chega, the Spanish Vox, the Danish People’s Party, the Flemish independence party Vlaams Belang have joined it, as well as two small Greek and Latvian parties. The League of the Italian Matteo Salvini (eight elected), also sealed its participation in the new alliance on Monday, according to him. “decisive in changing the future of Europe”.

The initiative has caused an outcry in Brussels, as Hungary has held the rotating EU presidency since July 1. “The alliance of pro-Putin and far-right forces is a gift to Moscow and aims to destabilize European democracy. Perhaps they should be called ‘Russian Patriots'”denounced Terry Reintke, leader of the Green MEPs.

The European Conservatives and Reformists Group

The European Conservatives and Reformists group was created in 2009. Until then, it had 69 MEPs. There are now 78. Among them, the Fratelli d’Italia of the far-right Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni. Four French people also sit on it: Marion Maréchal, Guillaume Peltier, Laurence Trochu and Nicolas Bay, all elected under the Reconquête label but excluded from Eric Zemmour’s party after the European elections.

The group’s positions are more Atlanticist than those of the other two and it is a fervent supporter of military support for Ukraine. Since coming to power in October 2022, Giorgia Meloni has indeed sought to position herself as the only figure capable of uniting the European right. At the same time, pragmatic, she has muted her former Euroscepticism, supported Ukraine despite divided public opinion and collaborated with the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, thus helping to reassure her interlocutors.

However, her group emerged weakened from the European elections. While she hoped to become the third political force in Parliament and influence the distribution of key posts in the EU, her long-time ally Viktor Orban stole the show with his new group. And her place in the ranking.

The Europe of Sovereign Nations Group

This is the latest creation. The German far-right party AfD has announced that it has formed a group in the European Parliament called Europe of Sovereign Nations. It brings together 25 MEPs, according to the Parliament’s website, from eight countries. Its two co-presidents are René Aust, from the Alternative for Germany (AfD), and Stanislaw Tyszka, from the Polish far-right Konfederacja (Confederation). The creation of the group follows the exclusion of the AfD from the Identity and Democracy (ID) group during the previous legislature: its MEPs had been pushed out by the RN due to various scandals (including suspicions of proximity to China and Russia). The ID group has therefore disappeared, its former members having joined other parties.

According to a press release from René Aust, of the 25 MEPs of the Europe of Sovereign Nations, the AfD forms the largest contingent, with 14 elected members. They will sit with three elected members from the Bulgarian Wasraschdane party and three from the Polish Konfederacja party. Next come a Czech SPD elected member, a Slovakian from Republika, a Lithuanian from the extreme right, as well as a Hungarian elected member with no political affiliation. The group also includes a French elected member: Sarah Knafo (Reconquête), close to Eric Zemmour, who is one of its three vice-presidents.