The National Rally (RN) has joined forces with the new radical right group of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to form the third force in the European Parliament, ahead of the political families of Giorgia Meloni and Emmanuel Macron.
The leader of the French far-right party, Jordan Bardella, will chair this group called “Patriots for Europe”, officially formed on Monday in Brussels. This alliance comes in the wake of legislative elections in France which saw the RN make less progress than expected and fail to obtain a majority.
The new group will include 84 MEPs from 12 nationalities, with the RN representing the largest contingent with 30 elected members compared to around ten for Mr Orban’s Fidesz.
The aim is to represent “the sovereignist movement in order to” really influence the decisions of the Parliament, declared RN MEP Jean-Paul Garraud. “We are resolutely against the ultra-federalist aspect of the EU, the fact that it wants to dominate the States at all costs.”
On June 30, Viktor Orban announced his intention to form this parliamentary group, together with the Austrian far-right party FPÖ and the movement of former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis.
The Hungarian nationalist leader aimed to make a different voice heard: against military support for Ukraine, against “illegal immigration”, for the “traditional family”.
The Dutch Party for Freedom Geert Wilders, the Portuguese movement Chega, the Spanish VOX, the Danish People’s Party, the Flemish independence party Vlaams Belang have joined it, as have two small Greek and Latvian parties.
The League of the Italian Matteo Salvini (8 elected), also sealed on Monday its participation in the new alliance, according to him “decisive to change the future of Europe”.
“Gift to Putin”
“We are working together to ensure that we no longer have illegal immigration and that we have peace on our doorstep,” added FPÖ MEP Harald Vilimsky, appearing to refer to Viktor Orban’s visit to Moscow to discuss “peace” in Ukraine.
The initiative has caused an outcry in Brussels, as Budapest has held the rotating EU presidency since July 1.
Mr Orban “is part of a peace movement, anything that can contribute to peace is a good thing,” said Mr Garraud.
“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.
Among Jordan Bardella’s six vice-presidents is also a very controversial profile: the Italian general Roberto Vannacci, suspended in February after a book in which he judged homosexuals to be “not normal”.
The new group has established itself as the third force in Parliament behind the pro-European right (European People’s Party, EPP) and the Social Democrats (S&D).
He surpasses the liberals of Renew (76 seats) which includes the Macronist elected officials. And he surpasses the radical right group of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), associated with the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, with more Atlanticist positions and fervent supporter of military support for Ukraine.
“Vectors of influence”
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Several of the parties that joined the Patriots were until now part of the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, including the deputies of the National Rally.
“We preferred to reshuffle all the cards with a new group to allow the arrival of other nationalities,” explained Mr. Garraud.
In contrast, the German far-right AfD remains isolated, having been excluded from ID due to scandals.
The size of the new group should allow its members to have more speaking time and financial resources, and potentially to land key positions: vice-presidents of Parliament, committee chairs, rapporteurs, etc.
“These are all vectors of institutional influence. Until now, a cordon sanitaire prevented the extreme right from obtaining positions of responsibility: to what extent can this cordon be maintained sustainably?” asks Thierry Chopin, political scientist at the Jacques Delors Institute.
“With the electoral developments, it seems difficult to me to continue to oppose us with this totally anti-democratic position,” believes Jean-Paul Garraud.
The room for manoeuvre of the majority coalition in Parliament (EPP, Social Democrats, Liberals) could be further reduced, making the adoption of legislation more complex.
“With a centre of gravity shifted to the right, the EPP will remain the key player, but could ad hoc move closer to the right of the right on certain issues, implying greater uncertainty,” Mr Chopin stresses.