the unpresentable allies of the National Rally

Less than a month before the European elections, the European far-right gathered on Sunday in Madrid as part of a meeting organized by the Spanish nationalist party Vox. On site, Marine Le Pen called for the coming together of all sovereignist groups in order to “reorient” the EU.

Marine Le Pen participated on Sunday May 19 in Madrid in a convention of far-right leaders organized by the Spanish party Vox. Officially, she wanted to enhance her international stature by appearing alongside a few foreign leaders, such as the Argentine President Javier Milei or the President of the Italian Council Giorgia Meloni who simply sent a video message.

Marine Le Pen also took advantage of this platform to attack the “Macron-Von der Leyen duo” whom she accuses of having put herself at the service of “separatism and migratory overwhelm” wanting “make borders disappear”. A charge which, however, does not prevent him from no longer wanting to leave the Schengen area, which established the free movement of people in Europe.

Marine Le Pen also pleaded for the union of nationalist parties in Europe. This is not a given when we observe the deep divisions between far-right groups. In the European Parliament, they are divided into two groups, that of the “European Conservatives and Reformists”, dominated by Giorgia Meloni, rather liberal, resolutely Atlanticist and supporter of Ukraine, and the other, called “Identity and Democracy”, in in which sit the elected representatives of the RN, very statist, fundamentally pro-Russian and seduced by Vladimir Putin. It is always a challenge to build a European alliance of nationalist parties which are, by definition, attached to the defense of their national territory. Showing up with its foreign allies is often quite risky for the RN.

Some of these parties are not very presentable and continue to say out loud what Marine Le Pen refrains from whispering in the name of the famous “demonization”. Thus, the Spanish party Vox is working to rehabilitate the memory and legacy of the dictator Franco. The Germans of the AfD, absent on Sunday in Madrid but allied with the RN in Strasbourg, met with neo-Nazi executives in the fall to consider the expulsion of several million foreigners or Germans of foreign origin.

The initiative had offended the RN. Without forgetting the Argentine President, Javier Milei, who, as he had promised, is tackling state social spending in a drastic and brutal manner. Marine Le Pen attacks ultra-liberalism in Paris but applauds her Argentine champion visiting Europe. “Having a good friend is the best thing in the world”, said the song. There are still some that Marine Le Pen should avoid if she wants to make people believe that the far right has really changed.