EU Parliament: Orban and Le Pen parties form joint parliamentary group
The new faction reportedly counts 84 MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) from twelve EU countries according to their own statements. The largest group are France's Right-wing populists with 30 MEPs. Their party leader Jordan Bardella, who ran for the office of French Prime Minister in the French parliamentary elections, will be the Fraktionchef. He has been an MEP since 2019.
Bardella had already announced on Sunday evening that the MEPs of his party would be part of "a large faction that will influence the power balance in Europe." The chairman of the Italian party Lega, Matteo Salvini, also announced on Monday that he intended to join the group.
Orbán had announced the founding of the new Right-wing Extreme faction from his Fidesz party, the Austrian FPO, and the ANO party from the Czech Republic at the end of June. Since then, other parties have joined, including Vox from Spain, the Portuguese Chega, the Danish People's Party, the Belgian Vlaams Belang, and the Dutch Party for Freedom of the Dutch right-wing populist Geert Wilders.
The faction is now the third strongest force in the newly elected European Parliament, ahead of the second Right-wing Extreme faction of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) of Italy's far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the Liberal Group Renew. The position as the third strongest force grants the EU-hostile parties longer speaking time and more positions in the Parliament.
Their MEPs reject weapons deliveries to Ukraine and want to take a harder stance on asylum seekers than the EU plans with the migration package passed in May. The Right-wing Parties also demand that EU institutions and even the Parliament itself have less power, in favor of national governments.
"The new alliance of Putin-friendly and far-right forces in the European Parliament is a gift to Moscow," ruled the Fraktionschefin of the Greens in the European Parliament, Terry Reintke. "Perhaps one should call them Russian patriots." She called on the center parties to "maintain the wall."
The German AfD had recently been seeking European partners, after France's Right-wing populists had succeeded in expelling the AfD from the common European faction. It currently seems unlikely that the AfD will join the new faction. "We have not changed our position," said RN MEP Jean-Paul Garraud on Monday regarding a cooperation with the German MEPs.
- Jordan Bardella, the leader of France's Right-wing populists, will serve as the Fraktionchef of the new faction in the EU Parliament.
- According to their own statements, the new faction comprises 84 MEPs from twelve EU countries, making it one of the strongest forces in the European Parliament.
- Matteo Salvini, the chairman of the Italian party Lega, has announced his intention to join the new faction, further strengthening its influence in Brussels.
- The formation of the new faction was initially announced by Viktor Orbán from his Fidesz party, along with the Austrian FPO and the ANO party from the Czech Republic.
- The Right-wing Parties in this faction, including the Rassemblement National from France and the Fidesz party from Hungary, reject weapons deliveries to Ukraine and advocate for a harder stance on asylum seekers.
- The Czech Republic's ANO party and other parties such as Vox from Spain, the Portuguese Chega, and the Dutch Party for Freedom are among the members of the new EU Parliament faction.
- The new faction's position as the third strongest force grants them longer speaking time and more positions in the Parliament, potentially influencing EU policies significantly.
- The faction's demand for less power for EU institutions and the Parliament itself, in favor of national governments, has sparked concerns among some EU members.
- Marine Le Pen, the leader of the Rassemblement National, is also part of this faction, which has been criticized by some as being "Putin-friendly" and a "gift to Moscow."
- Despite the invitation, it currently seems unlikely that the German AfD will join the new faction, with RN MEP Jean-Paul Garraud stating that they have not changed their position regarding a cooperation with the German MEPs.
