“Political change in Europe has begun!” Mr Orban boasted on X, posing in Vienna with Andrej Babis, leader of ANO and former Czech Prime Minister, and Herbert Kickl, head of the FPÖ. “Europeans want […] peace, order and development. What they get from the current Brussels elite is war, migration and stagnation,” he continued. And to point out that the three parties each won the European elections in their respective countries.
“The most powerful right-wing group”
Mr Orban has declared his ambition to make Patriots for Europe “the most powerful right-wing group in European politics”. But it still needs to be formed in the European Parliament… For that, a minimum of 23 MEPs is needed. Mr Orban’s Fidesz has eleven, orphaned by a political group, since the party was pushed out by the European People’s Party. ANO won seven seats and left the liberals of Renew. The FPÖ has six members who would leave the Identity and Democracy group (ID, extreme right).
Agreement on top jobs at the European summit, despite the discontent of Giorgia Meloni and Viktor Orban
If the count is correct, the rules of the European Parliament also require that a group contain elected representatives representing at least a quarter of the member states. Parties from four other countries should therefore join “Patriots for Europe” to give birth to it. According to Politico, the Poles of the PiS are hesitating, even if their support for Ukraine contrasts with the pro-Russian position of Fidesz, the FPÖ and ANO. On the other hand, the French of the RN (30 elected representatives) have declined the invitation; the Germans of the AfD are considered unsavoury and the elected representatives of Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia party remain with the European Conservatives and Reformists. Reflecting the paradoxes and divisions of the nationalist and anti-European forces, scattered in the European Parliament
