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The document was presented as the cornerstone of a future European alliance of far-right parties. But important questions remain unanswered. Several far-right groups, notably in Germany and Romania, refused to join the initiative.
Marine Le Pen of the French far-right Rassemblement National party is one of the fifteen signatories of a joint declaration, published on Friday, announcing the formation of a major alliance of far-right representatives in the European Parliament. The intention of the group is to “reform Europe”.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Matteo Salvini of the Italian League, Jaroslav Kaczynski of the Polish Justice and Law Party, Santiago Abascal of the Spanish group Vox and Giorgia Meloni of the Italian neo-fascist Brothers of Mouvement Italy.
The declaration criticizes the European Union for its federalist ambitions which, say the 16 signatories, “inevitably lose sight of the people, the beating heart of our civilization”.
Faced with this situation, continues the declaration, “the main patriotic parties of the continent have recognized the crucial importance of coming together to give more weight to their position in the debates and the reform of the EU”.
According to Viktor Orban, “this declaration concerns the future of the EU, the protection of nations, families and traditional Christian values”.
The document calls for a mechanism to protect member states by allowing national constitutional courts to ignore or change decisions of the European Court. This Luxembourg-based institution recently, for example, criticized Polish and Hungarian legislation as being contrary to the founding principles of the EU.
Several heavyweight abstentions
The “joint declaration” has a few notable absentees. The German Alternative AfD party is one of the most obvious, but there is no sign of the Swedish or Romanian far right. The Dutch sovereignist party, JA21, also refused to sign.
At this stage, the signatories do not envisage any political merger in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Critics of the initiative have suggested that huge differences remain between several of the movements involved.
“How do you think Meloni and Salvini are going to get along?” “Asks Green MEP Philippe Lamberts, stressing that Salvini is currently participating in the government of Rome led by Mario Draghi, while the Brothers of Italy are openly fascist.
And there is the clash between Marine Le Pen and Jaroslav Kaczynski of the Polish Justice and Law party over Vladimir Putin’s Russia. The French National Rally enthusiastically supports the boss of the Kremlin, despised by the Polish far right. Kaczynski has repeatedly refused to meet with Le Pen due to this discrepancy.
The president of the European Social Democratic Group, Iratxe Garcia Pérez, does not expect the far-right “alliance” to last long.
“They are unable to work together,” she said, “and will end up fighting each other.”
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