Vox wants to change its group in the European Parliament. This Friday it announced that it is leaving the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, made up of, among others, Brothers of Italy, the party led by the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and is joining the “platform” Patriots for Europe, a new group project, which, for now, has as its most prominent party Fidesz, of the Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán. “This new platform aims to form a new parliamentary group in the European Parliament, whose constitution will foreseeably be announced in the next few days,” says the party led by Santiago Abascal, assuming that they will manage to comply with the regulatory requirements of having 23 MEPs —which they already have—, from seven countries. They now have six after the announcement, this Friday, by the Dutch Geert Wilders that his party (the far-right PVV) will also join the new political family.
So far, the main difference between Abascal and Meloni would be the latter’s position on the continuity of Ursula von der Leyen. The Italian prime minister abstained from the European Council when she was nominated to repeat as head of the European Commission presidency. However, she maintains a good relationship with the German, who defended her during the electoral campaign from attacks by parties to the left of the European People’s Party (EPP): “I have worked very well with Meloni in the European Council,” she argued in a debate. On the other hand, Vox has shown its rejection of the continuity of Von der Leyen, like Orbán, who voted against her at the leaders’ summit last week and just this Friday is in Moscow visiting the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, on a trip that has caused indignation in the EU.
In recent years, the Spanish far-right party has been trying to act as a bridge between the different families of the European far right, from ECR to Identity and Democracy (ID), but also towards Orbán. At the major rally of far-right parties organised by Vox in Madrid in May, which was attended by the Argentine president, Javier Milei, the French Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally (RN) party, took part in person. Meloni and Orbán also spoke by video conference.
Sources familiar with the far-right party point out that behind this move could not only be the different position regarding Von der Leyen, but also Abascal’s attempt to gain prominence in the European Parliament. In ECR there are now two major parties: Brothers of Italy, which has gone from 5 representatives in 2019 to 26 now, and the Polish Law and Justice (PiS, for its acronym in Polish), which has dropped from 25 to 20. Both have been sharing the most important positions in recent days, with quite a bit of tension between them, to the point that there has been speculation about the Polish party leaving ECR.
Vox, for its part, has gone from three to six MEPs and, evidently, cannot aspire to Meloni’s share of prominence. Until now, the Spaniards held a vice-presidency in their group – a position that will now be occupied by PiS – and were also part of the board of the Parliament’s Agriculture Committee.
Following the elections held on 9 June, there have been several movements in the European far right, which until now had been divided into these two large groups in the European Parliament. In ECR, in addition to Vox, Brothers of Italy and Law and Justice, there were also other less Eurosceptic formations such as the Czech ODS, led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala, or the Belgian Flemish N-VA, which won the elections with a good chance of leading the country’s next federal government.
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ID is particularly prominent in the ranks of Le Pen’s National Rally. Until Friday, the PVV of the Netherlands, the majority force in the new Dutch government, was also part of this family. “We are patriots of the PVV, we love our nation. Strong and sovereign. We resist illegal immigration. We defend peace and freedom. And we support Ukraine. We protect our Judeo-Christian heritage. And our families. We want to join forces in the European Parliament and we will proudly join Patriots for Europe,” Geert Wilders, the leader of the party, wrote on X.
We are PVV-patriots, we love our nation. Strong and sovereign. Resisting illegal immigration. We defend peace and freedom. And support 🇺🇦. We protect our Judeo-Christian heritage. And our families.
We want to combine forces in the EP and will proudly join #PatriotsforEurope! 💪
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) July 5, 2024
This map, however, will probably change next Monday with the alliances that have been forged in the last week and after the second round of the French legislative elections, decisive for the RN. Last Sunday, the Hungarians of Fidesz and the Czechs of ANO, the party of former Prime Minister Andrej Babis, announced together with the Austrian far right, FPÖ, their intention to create Patriots for Europe. The Portuguese of Chega have also announced their interest in joining. For its part, Matteo Salvini’s League, part of the current Italian Executive, said it was in favour of the new group, although it made no announcement.
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