Marine Le Pen’s plea to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to form a right-wing super group in the next European Parliament has received the backing of one of Europe’s most prominent nationalists: Viktor Orbán.
In an interview with French weekly magazine Le Point, the Hungarian prime minister said the “future of the sovereignist camp in Europe, and of the right in general, now rests in the hands of two women,” arguing that if the French far-right figurehead and Italian leader work together “within a single group or a coalition, they will be a force for Europe.”
Meloni’s party, Brothers of Italy, currently sits with the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) in the EU parliament, while Le Pen’s National Rally is part of the Identity and Democracy (ID) group.
With the far right projected to surge in the June 6-9 EU election, Le Pen has pitched the idea of a single far-right group which, she said, could become the second force in Parliament behind the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) and give Europe a rightward jolt.
And Orbán shares Le Pen’s vision. The momentum which would result from such a partnership “could be enough to reshape the configuration of the European right, or even supplant the European People’s Party,” he said.
Orbán’s own party, Fidesz, left the EPP in 2021 and has been holding talks to join the ECR. The Hungarian leader said, however, that Fidesz would require the ECR clarify its stance on future relations with Le Pen’s National Rally — which the Hungarians favor — and the EPP, which Orbán criticized as being under German influence.
“Apart from the number of seats a particular party wins, the most important thing, in my opinion, will be the number of MEPs prepared to go further in the war in Ukraine and the number who will be in favor of ending it,” said Orbán, who has frequently opposed European sanctions against Russia and aid packages for Ukraine as it fends off Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion.
Orbán also restated Hungary’s opposition to Mark Rutte’s bid to run NATO — pointing to past remarks in which the Dutch prime minister said Hungary had “no place in the EU anymore” — and mocked French President Emmanuel Macron’s talkative nature.
“[Macron] has an understanding of the historical dimensions of things that very few European leaders have. This allows us to discuss our differences,” he said.
“However, it takes twice as long as with other European leaders.”
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