By T. Jayani, JadeTimes News
Jordan Bardella, leader of France's far right National Rally (RN), will lead a new right wing coalition in the European Parliament called Patriots for Europe. This announcement followed the RN's loss in the second round of France’s snap legislative election.
In his speech after the election on Sunday night, Bardella stated that RN’s MEPs would join a “large group” aimed at influencing Europe’s power dynamics, opposing mass migration, punitive environmental policies, and threats to national sovereignty. On Monday, Bardella described Patriots for Europe as a symbol of hope for citizens valuing identity, sovereignty, and freedom. He pledged to “retake our institutions and reorient policies to serve our nations and peoples.”
The formation of Patriots for Europe was announced last month by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Herbert Kickl of Austria's far right Freedom Party (FPÖ), and Andrej Babis, leader of the Czech populist party ANO. Orban declared they had signed a "patriotic manifesto" promoting "peace, security, and development" as opposed to the "war, migration, and stagnation" imposed by the "Brussels elite."
Within a week, right wing and far right parties from 12 European countries joined the group, including Portugal's Chega, Spain’s Vox, the Dutch PVV of Geert Wilders, Denmark’s Peoples Party, and Belgium's Vlaams Belang. On Monday, RN and Italy's right wing populist League party also joined, increasing the group's membership to 84. Many of these parties were formerly part of the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, which is now likely to disband.
Bardella's RN, with 30 MEPs, will be the largest faction in Patriots for Europe, making it the third largest group in the European Parliament after the centre right European People's Party (EPP) and the centre left Socialists & Democrats (S&D). Notably absent from Patriots for Europe are Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy (FdI) party and Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has faced numerous scandals.
Tom Van Grieken, chairman of Belgium’s far right Vlaams Belang, noted that the right wing, patriotic, and nationalist parties in the Patriots alliance share more commonalities than differences. However, these parties do diverge on issues such as NATO and the EU’s support for Ukraine.
The European elections on 9 June saw gains for far right and nationalist parties, although the centre right retained its position as the largest group and gained seats. The RN was notably successful, winning over 30% of the vote, double that of French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance party. This prompted Macron to call for snap parliamentary elections. While the RN led in the first round on 30 June, it was defeated by a left wing coalition and Macron’s Ensemble alliance in the second round on 7 July.
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