Politics

European far-right leaders meet in Portugal to plan their future

Lisbon, Nov 24 (EFE).- The Portuguese far-right party Enough hosted on Friday in Lisbon the French Marine Le Pen and other European ideological allies who have rallied around it as it warms up the engines for the March 10 national elections.

The president of Enough, André Ventura, received Le Pen of National Rally and the co-leader of Alternative for Germany (AfD) Tino Chrupalla in the Portuguese parliament, in a preview of the convention organized by Identity and Democracy, the political group in the European Parliament that brings together the extreme right, which will be held Friday night in the Portuguese capital.

Encouraged by the victory of Geert Wilders in the Netherlands this week, the extremist leaders were optimistic about next year’s European elections.

Le Pen believed that “confidence” in the far right was growing and that France, Germany and Portugal were proof of this.

Ventura agreed, saying that “this is a sign that change may be close, as happened in the Netherlands,” but admitted, however, that Wilders might not be able to form a government despite his electoral triumph.

Elections in Portugal

Of the leaders present, Ventura is the next to go to the polls at the national level, and Le Pen and Chrupalla gave him their support on Friday.

The Portuguese extremist celebrated the growth of his party in the latest polls, which he said offered “a realistic but difficult hope of fighting for victory”.

The latest survey, the Intercampus Barometer, published Friday, gives his party 13.5% in voting intentions, far behind the Socialists (23.6%) and the conservative PSD (21.9%), but almost double the result it obtained in the 2022 legislative elections of 7%.

After eight years of Socialist government, Enough wants to offer an alternative to prevent the country from ending up with “a solution similar to the one that Spain has now had to return to,” said its leader, who regretted that the other parties of the Portuguese right refuse to dialogue with his formation.

The PSD, which now leads the opposition, has refused to form a coalition with Enough in order to govern.

This policy of excluding the far right, which also exists in other countries such as Germany, was criticized by Ventura and his European partners on Friday.

Changing Europe

They also pushed the idea of overhauling the European Union, which Le Pen said was becoming “a caricature of itself” and had entered a “world of sanctions and threats.”

“We are against the European Union because we like Europe,” said the former National Rally leader.

The leaders also criticized European policies on issues such as migration, security or the green transition.

The Identity and Democracy conference is being held in Portugal months after Enough canceled a “world summit” of the ultra-right that was to be held last May with the presence of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and representatives of the United States Republican Party.

Asked if Friday’s meeting was “below the expectations” of the party, Ventura defended that these were two different meetings, stressing that Le Pen and Chrupalla were the two main leaders of Identity and Democracy.

Also attending the congress are the Czech Tomio Okamura and the Estonian Martin Helme, who lead far-right parties in their respective countries, and Austrian member of the European Parliament Harald Vilimsky. EFE

pfm/ics

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