The right-wing ‘Patriots for Europe’ parliamentary faction was inaugurated in Brussels on Monday, July 8th. Top positions were divided among various populist parties, an obvious indication that Europe’s nationalist parties are seeking cooperation.
The new group has been in the works since before June’s European elections and includes Le Pen’s Rassemblement National, Hungary’s Fidesz, and the Austrian FPÖ—a grand total of 13 participatory parties.
A five-item meeting to decide on top positions for the parliamentary faction concluded faster than expected in the Spinelli Building of the European Parliament in Brussels shortly after 3 p.m. Group chairmanship was assigned to leading Rassemblement National (RN) MEP Jordan Bardella, fresh from his thwarted bid to become France’s prime minister during last week’s legislative elections.
Bardella is joined at the helm by Fidesz MEP Kinga Gál, who takes up the vice presidency of the Patriots group, while Danish populist MEP Anders Vistisen was given the role of party whip.
Somewhat unexpectedly, the Patriots group now includes a Greek delegation, following a decision by the Voice of Reason party to join the faction after resigning from the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).
VOX’s Jorge Buxadé denied that there were lingering tensions between the Spanish populist party and Fratelli’s Giorga Meloni after his party also made the shock decision to split with the Italians and their ECR group last week.
Another unexpected addition is two MEPs from the Czech Oath and Motorists, who overcame hesitation about joining the faction despite the membership of the rival political party of Andrej Babiš’ ANO.
Speaking at a press conference after the day’s meeting, RN MEP Jean-Paul Garraud praised the ability of parties to overcome differences to coalesce as he expressed hope that the European Right could now “retake the institutions” within Brussels.
This was complemented by a statement from Fidesz MEP and Patriots Vice Chair Kinga Gál, who said voters were “in favour of European cooperation, but not of an EU that acts beyond its competences.”
The Patriots for Europe is now the leading faction within the European Right—despite Polish Law & Justice’s (PiS) decision against joining—ahead of the conservative ECR, and an as-of-yet unformed grouping that would be led by the German AfD under the working name ‘Europe of Sovereign Nations.’
A challenge for the Patriots in the coming months will be the handing out of influential committee positions within the EU Parliament, where right-wingers are traditionally cordoned away from taking key roles.
Patriots officials were keen to focus on what unites the group and set aside potential division over foreign policy, particularly the Ukrainian war. Prevision rifts between Scandinavian parties and more NATO-critical parties, led by the AfD, has haunted the Parliament’s nationalist ID group in recent years, with Franco-German office politics and the perceived radicalism of the German AfD resulting in a schism in May.
The first meeting of the EU Parliament is chalked in for July 16th as centrist and socialist MEPs attempt to reelect Commission President Ursula von der Leyen despite five years of scandal and flawed crisis management.