Guide to the far right in the European Parliament: Eurosceptic, opposition to immigration and the green agenda | International

The European Parliament began its tenth term this week with a House leaning more to the right. The ultra forces gained so much in the 9-J elections that, if they brought together all their MEPs (187), they would form the second-largest parliamentary group above the Social Democrats (136) and only one less than the populists (188). But the extreme right begins a divided legislature, precisely…

The European Parliament began its tenth term this week with a chamber leaning more to the right. The ultra forces achieved such a rise in the 9-J elections that, if they brought together all their MEPs (187), they would form the second-largest parliamentary group above the Social Democrats (136) and only one less than the populists (188). But the extreme right-wing legislature seems to be divided, because although the parties share a dose of euroscepticism and mostly oppose immigration, they differ on key points such as the EU’s relationship with Russia and the role of NATO in European security. This difference is reflected in their separation into three groups: European Conservatives and Reformists (ERC), Patriots for Europe (PFE) and Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN). All three will be able to exert pressure on the chamber’s moderate bloc over the next five years, in which the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, the rise in irregular immigration and the possible return of Donald Trump to the White House continue to be key.

European Conservatives and Reformists (ERC)

By far the best-known group is the European Conservatives and Reformists (ERC), founded in 2009. It brings together groups such as Brothers of Italy, led by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Law and Justice (PiS), the party that ruled Poland for almost a decade. In total, it has structures in 18 countries and 78 MEPs. Before 9-J, the Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, reached an agreement with them by not considering them “friends of (Vladimir) Putin”, as she described members of the now extinct group Identity and Democracy (ID).

The reformists consider themselves center-right. In their manifesto for the European elections they defend the “reform” of the EU. “We believe that the EU should do less, but perform better. We will reject any unnecessary centralization of power in Brussels,” they say. In turn, they oppose the Green Deal because, in their opinion, “it forgets ordinary people”, and they call for strengthening borders to combat irregular immigration.

Despite this, they claim to “stand firmly” with Ukraine against Russian aggression and are committed to “improving cooperation” between the EU and NATO. The issue was decisive for von der Leyen’s rapprochement, although the attempt was weakened to the extent that Meloni’s MEPs abstained from voting for him to remain at the head of the European Commission. On Thursday, the Italian said she “did not share the methodology” of his re-election, but was ready to continue cooperation “on a number of issues, such as migration”.

The ERC’s flirtation with the Populist Europeans has worked for the time being, allowing them to overcome the siege and obtain two of the 14 vice-presidential positions in the European Parliament. The group has also taken advantage of the emergence of the other two groups to appear more moderate.

Patriots for Europe (PfE)

The third group by number of representatives (84) during this phase will be Patriots for Europe, founded only two weeks ago. It is the successor of Identity and Democracy (ID), as it has members such as Marine Le Pen’s National Rally – among the national parties with the most representatives in the European Parliament -, the Dutch Freedom Party and the Austrian FPÖ, which have already formed part of the extinct group. The Hungarian Prime Minister, populist Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party have led the creation of the PfE (in its acronym in English). All the aforementioned parties are in government in their respective countries, although this bloc also includes groups such as Vox, which left Meloni’s group to support this group or Chega from Portugal.

PFE members share a high level of Euroscepticism and even Europhobia, which can be seen in proposals such as “a return to what existed before the Maastricht (Treaty)”, i.e. reintroducing a model such as the European Economic Community, which had much more limited powers over states. For the patriots, European countries are threatened by “global forces, unelected bureaucrats, etc.” “The Lobby”As stated in its founding manifesto, they are more radical when it comes to immigration: they are determined to protect European “cultural identity” from “political, economic or religious threats.” Specifically, the identity is “the fruit of Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian heritage.” Many of its members express disapproval of Islam.

In one of the first resolutions of the new European Parliament, MEPs condemned Orban’s visit to Moscow to meet Vladimir Putin – with whom he has a good relationship – in his so-called “peace mission” to Ukraine. The text, approved by 495 votes, calls for “repercussions for Hungary”, which holds the EU Council presidency this semester. On his visit, the Hungarian president also met Xi Jinping in Beijing and Donald Trump in Florida. In fact, the slogan of his half-year administration mimics the Republicans’ “Let’s make America great again” and claims: “Let’s make Europe great again.”

The proximity of the Hungarian – the most visible face of the PFE, despite the fact that he is not an MEP himself – to these popular EU leaders makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for the great coalition of socialists and liberals that the EU wants to agree with your group. Most likely, the cordon already imposed by the missing ID will be maintained towards this new group.

Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN)

Europe of Sovereign Nations is the smallest group in the entire House, with only 25 MEPs, and they form a galaxy of marginal parties from France (Reconquista), Bulgaria (Renaissance) or Poland (with three of the Confederation’s six members), which cluster around the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which itself has 14 deputies. Only formed on July 10, the ESN (in its English acronym) arises from the AfD’s rejection of joining either of the other two extremist groups. The national regrouping broke with the German formation following statements by Maximilian Kraah, then head of the European List, with whom it shared a group in the ID, in which he downplayed the role of the Nazi SS in the Holocaust. They still maintain their rejection. “The comments made by Kraah were unacceptable. At this point in time, we have not changed our position,” a spokesman for Le Pen’s party said last week.

This rejection paved the way for the AfD, co-led by Alice Weidel and Tino Kruppala, to form its own bloc to receive benefits such as economic allocations. The AfD was the second most voted party in the country on 9-J, above the three parties that form the government. It has also emerged victorious in three state elections State Eastern, which will be held in September.

In the absence of clear proposals as a group, some statements by the leaders who make up the group allow us to see what they defend. Tomio Okamura of the Czech Freedom and Direct Democracy (LDD) says that ESN is “against the Green Deal, against immigration, against the Islamization of Europe.” “We want the powers of Brussels to return to the national level,” he said at a press conference. For his part, René Aust of the AfD celebrates “making the shared vision of a Europe of Motherland a reality”, that is, with the transfer of powers to the countries. Other so-called sovereigns are also anti-LGBTI, ethno-nationalist and openly pro-Russian, such as the LDD and the Bulgarian Renaissance.

The pool is also joined by Elvis Pérez’s group, Se Acabo La Fiesta, with three MEPs. But they start the legislature independently, along with other marginal formations such as the German ultra-left BWS, SOS Romania – which proposes to re-design its borders to re-establish Greater Romania – or the Communist Party of Greece.

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