“President Trump, to us, is like a brother in arms,” said Wilders, who called for a “reconquista” of Europe, like the wars waged by Spanish Christian monarchs to retake the Iberian peninsula from Muslim kingdoms between the eighth and 15th centuries.
But Trump’s threats, from slapping prohibitive tariffs on European goods to annexing ‘s gigantic Arctic territory of , could embarrass nationalist parties in Europe.
“Liking Donald Trump’s patriotism does not mean being the vassal of the United States,” , leader of France’s National Rally (NR), said last month.
The NR, whose figurehead is Le Pen, leads the Patriots group in the European Parliament.
‘Show of force’
After last year’s European Parliament elections, in which far-right parties performed strongly in several countries, Saturday’s gathering was designed to be “a show of force”, said Steven Forti, a researcher at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
It would also serve to promote the Patriots turf war with other far-right groups in the EU assembly, he said.
The European elections saw the Patriots win 86 of the parliament’s 720 seats.
It overtook the European Conservatives and Reformists group, led by Italian Prime Minister ‘s neo-Fascist Brothers of Italy party, which won 80 seats.
Patriots for Europe is seeking to “show its central place in the competition” with rival extreme-right groups, Forti told AFP.
Neither Meloni, nor AfD representatives attended Saturday’s rally.
Forti said the Patriots wanted “to take advantage of the wave triggered by Trump’s victory and the shock in the European Union” his measures have caused in order to reshape the balance in Europe.
They shared with Trump a wish to weaken the EU, Forti said.
(AFP)
