The leaders of far-right parties in “Patriots”, the European Parliament's third-largest voting bloc, gathered in Madrid on Saturday under the motto “Make Europe Great Again” for a rally filled with euphoric references to Donald Trump's return to power.
The event featured Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Italian Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini, as well as the leaders of France's National Rally (RN), Marine Le Pen, and the Netherlands' PVV party, Geert Wilders.
"The Trump tornado has changed the world in just a few weeks ... yesterday we were heretics, today we're mainstream," said Orbán.
Patriots was formed after the May 2024 European election and consists of 86 MEPs from 14 countries, representing a combined 19 million votes.
Madrid was chosen as venue for their first official summit so that Patriots' president Santiago Abascal, who helms Spain's Vox party, could host.
Despite Patriots' stated goal of unifying Europe's nationalist conservatives, some of the EU's most influential parties in that camp - such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy, Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) - have refused to join.
"The Trump tornado has changed the world in just a few weeks ... yesterday we were heretics, today we're mainstream," said Orbán.
Patriots was formed after the May 2024 European election and consists of 86 MEPs from 14 countries, representing a combined 19 million votes.
Madrid was chosen as venue for their first official summit so that Patriots' president Santiago Abascal, who helms Spain's Vox party, could host.
Despite Patriots' stated goal of unifying Europe's nationalist conservatives, some of the EU's most influential parties in that camp - such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy, Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) - have refused to join.
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