Kaczynski, Orban, Le Penova. European nationalists met in Warsaw – SME.sk

WARSAW. Leaders of European far-right and nationalist parties met in Warsaw on Saturday to form a new alliance that would become the second largest group in the European Parliament. The AFP news agency informed about it.

Representatives of 14 political parties came to the talks at the Regent Hotel in Warsaw. The host is Jaroslaw Kaczyński, the leader of the Polish government’s right-wing, populist Law and Justice (PiS) party.

The Hungarian Prime Minister is also taking part Viktor Orbán and French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, as well as Spanish party leader Santiago Abascal.

Salvini is in no hurry

Le Pen, a candidate in the April French presidential election, said on Friday that the meeting would be an “important step”, but does not expect any final announcement of the new group after the negotiations.

“We can be optimistic that this political force will become operational in the coming months,” Le Pen said.

About ten activists protested in front of the hotel during the talks, chanting “No fascism!”.

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One important figure is missing at the far-right meeting, Matteo Salvini, the leader of the Italian League of the North. The party has issued a statement that the “right time” will come for the new group.

Salvini was one of the signatories to a declaration on July 16, in which 16 parties and movements announced a plan to create a “grand alliance” in the European Parliament – a prelude to Saturday’s talks.

League of the North and Le Pen National Assembly are members of the Identity and Democracy faction in the European Parliament, with PiS, Vox and the Brothers Italian there are European Conservatives and Reformists in the group.

Orbán wants to change Brussels’ policy

Orbánov Fidesz left the center-right group of the European People’s Party, the largest in the European Parliament, in March and is looking for a new group.

“We want to change the policy of Brussels,” Orbán wrote on Facebook before Saturday’s meeting in Warsaw. “We have been working for months to create a strong party family and we hope to take a step towards this goal today or tomorrow,” he added.

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Ewa Marciniak, a political scientist at the Polish Academy of Sciences, said the participants would try to “minimize differences of opinion”, for example on topics such as relations with Russia, abortion and LGBTI rights.

Instead, they said, they would emphasize “a willingness to return to the roots of the European Union.”

Poland and Hungary accuse the EU of weakening their sovereignty, while Brussels claims that the two countries are restricting democratic freedoms.