Brussels – There were two; it was supposed to be one, but it turned out to be three. Not even 48 hours after the birth of Patriots for Europe, yet another sovereignist far-right group has been formed in the European Parliament: “Europe of Sovereign Nations”, a collector of ultranationalist, eurosceptic, and pro-Russian parties led by the Germans of Alternative für Deutschland. The new formation, which saw its birth in the shadows today (July 10)—behind closed doors in a small chamber of the EU Parliament in a failed attempt to keep the press as far away as possible—is made up of 25 members from 8 national parties, and will be the smallest among the eight groups in the 10th legislature of the European Parliament.
No one spoke on the way out of the meeting, only German AfD MEP René Aust hurriedly confirming that “yes,” he is the chairman of the new Europe of Sovereign Nations group, along with Polish Stanislaw Tyszka. For everything else, one had to wait#hours for the press release, but with no online site, social media page, or official communication officer to consult. Confirmed on almost all lines the indiscretions of the eve: the 14 German MEPs from AfD, one Czech from Freedom and Direct Democracy, one Hungarian from Our Fatherland Movement, the 3 Bulgarians from Renaissance, 3 Poles from Konfederacja (3 others, however, remained out), a Slovakian from Republika (while the other was not allowed in), a Lithuanian from People’s Union and Justice, and Sarah Knafo, the only remaining MEP from the ultranationalist French right Reconquête after the expulsion of four of the five elected MEPs (remained in ECR and ready to found a new party). Of note is the exclusion of AfD’s leading candidate, Maximilian Krah, who was responsible in May for the expulsion of the entire party from the ID group because of his statements about the Nazi special forces SS past, and the three Spaniards from Se Acabò La Fiesta also remain out.
Already on the eve of the June 6–9 European elections, the intention of the Germans of AfD and the Bulgarians of Rebirth to start a far-right group in the EU Parliament in the new legislature was leaked. Even given the consolidation at the ballot box of Germany’s radical right-wing party (from 9 to 15 elected members), negotiations have intensified among the delegations that almost for certain would be left out of the other groups being formed, in an increasingly fragmented picture for the conservative, sovereignist, and nationalist right. Instead of a single camp of all right-wingers to become the second largest group in the EU Parliament—as wished by Rassemblement National’s most charismatic figure, Marine Le Pen, and Hungary’s Premier, Viktor Orbán—as of today, there are three groups in the EU Parliament: the European Conservatives and Reformists (78 members), the Patriots for Europe (84) and, as of today, Europe of Sovereign Nations (25).
“We have come together because we share the goal of making a significant impact on Europe’s political future through decisive action and strategic planning,” reads the press release signed by the two co-chairs. “We choose this path not because it is easy, but because it is necessary to realize our shared vision of a strong, united, forward-looking Europe of Homelands.” According to yesterday’s announcement of the leader of the eurosceptic, anti-Islamic, anti-migration Czech populist Spd party, Tomio Okamura, Europe of Sovereign Nations will be “against the Green Deal, against migration, against the Islamization of Europe, and we want the powers of Brussels to go back to the national level,” totally abandoning the idea that the EU can be reformed from within. To Frenchwoman Knafo goes one of three vice-presidential posts, along with Slovak Milan Uhrík and Bulgarian Stanislav Stoyanov.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
