French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban launched scathing attacks on the EU on Monday at a rally in France aimed at demonstrating the unity and strength of the anti-immigration wing of European policy.
Far-right leaders from across Europe gathered in Morman-sur-Vernisson, south of Paris, to mark the anniversary of Le Pen's National Rally (RN) party thrashing its opponents to win a record vote in European elections.
The mood was upbeat and confident following Donald Trump's return to the White House earlier this year and strong election results across the continent.
Orban, relishing his self-proclaimed status as the EU's “black sheep” and “Brussels' nightmare,” compared European migration policy to an “organized population exchange to replace the cultural base” of the continent.
Boasting that he had managed to “push back migrants” in his country, even if it meant incurring sanctions from Brussels, Orban told the several thousand people present: “We will not allow them to destroy our cities, rape our girls and women, kill civilians.”
Finish the game
In her speech, Le Pen described the European Union as a “graveyard of politically unfulfilled promises” and called it “woke and ultra-liberal.”
“We don't want to leave the table. We want to finish the game and win, take power in France and in Europe and give it back to the people,” she said.
Her party previously supported France's exit from the EU. But she now preaches European reform while remaining a member as Le Pen seeks to make the party electable and shed the legacy of her late father, Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Other participants included Italian Deputy Prime Minister and League party leader Matteo Salvini, Spanish Voice party leader Santiago Abascal and former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.
They are all members of the Patriots of Europe faction in the European Parliament, one of three competing far-right factions in the chamber.
Meanwhile, Salvini called migration a “threat” to Europe.
“The threat to our children is the invasion of illegal immigrants, mostly Islamists, financed and organised in the silence of Brussels,” he said from the podium, calling on European “patriots” to “work together” to “regain control over the destiny and future of Europe.”
In a show of disagreement over the meeting, about 4,000 people from the left, far left and trade unions protested in the nearby town of Montargis, vowing to “build resistance” and declaring that far-right leaders were “undesirable,” according to organisers.
“The worst representatives of the racist and xenophobic European far right, which we know all too well, are gathered here,” said French far-left MEP Manon Aubry.
Brussels Guillotine
The meeting also comes less than two years before France's crucial presidential election, in which President Emmanuel Macron, who has long positioned himself as a bulwark against the far right, will not be able to run again and the RN sees it as its best chance to take power.
However, it is not yet clear whether Le Pen will run for a fourth time, as her conviction earlier this year over a fake jobs scandal disqualifies her from running for public office.
She has appealed. But her protege and RN party leader Jordan Bardella, 29, is waiting in the wings to run if Le Pen is unable to run.
Bardella, who polls show still has a good chance of winning the first round of the presidential election if he runs, has been careful about his image, including giving a long television interview to star French presenter Karine Le Marchand to show his softer side.
“We reject the Europe of Ursula von der Leyen,” Bardella said at the rally, referring to the head of the European Commission. “We reject the Europe of Macron… We represent the rebirth of a real Europe.”
Beyond Le Pen's legal uncertainty, the contours of France's 2027 presidential election remain largely unclear, with the only major player to have clearly stated his intention to run being centre-right former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.
Orban called on RN to emerge victorious from the elections.
“Without you, we cannot occupy Brussels (…) We cannot save Hungary from the Brussels guillotine,” Orban said.
Source: Source
