Patriots aim to become ‘new normal’ in Brussels
At the end of a terrible week for right-wing party CHEGA, leader André Ventura has been speaking at the ‘Patriots of Europe’ summit in Madrid of the need to “reconquer Christian Europe”; wipe out gender ideology and generally move away from the “actions of socialists and social democrats over the last 50 years”.
Very few among his audience may have been aware of the truly abysmal headlines CHEGA has garnered over the last couple of weeks: the MP caught on airport CCTV cameras removing other people’s luggage from airport carousels, and then allegedly selling the contents over the internet; the Lisbon councillor paying a 15-year-old for oral sex – and the regional MP in the Azores caught drink-driving with a blood alcohol level well over the limit for a criminal offence.
Those who know Mr Ventura say he has been extremely rattled by these embarrassments. Indeed, a former colleague and co-founder of CHEGA has told SIC Notícias that there are more ‘disgraces’ within the party, just that Ventura “pretends he doesn’t know” about them.
Thus, while the image of CHEGA in Portugal has seen much better days, the image of other right wing parties in Europe does not seem so fragile, and their leaders are full of plans for the future.
According to Euronews today, the Patriots of Europe political group – created by Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán, after his party, Fidesz, left the European People’s Party (EPP) last summer – “wants to be the new ‘normal’ in Brussels and across the EU (…) It seeks to very obviously replicate (Donald) Trump’s “Make America Great Again” in Europe, adapting policies used in the United States and Latin America to EU member states”.
Cornerstones for change are dismantling the Green Deal, tearing down the rainbow flag (representing LGTBIQ rights), and implementing family and two-gender only policies.
The “reconquest” of the EU will go forwards under the banner of “Make Europe Great Again,”and its leaders say Donald Trump’s recent return to the White House signals it is time for Europe to change”, says Euronews.
The online cites André Ventura, whose speech today stressed: “We have to do what Trump has told us, fight, fight, fight. We have to reconquer a Europe that is ours and that belongs to us. A Christian Europe.”
A key member of the group, France’s Marine Le Pen, told the summit: “We are facing a truly global turning point (…) Everyone understands that something has changed. Meanwhile, the European Union seems to be in a state of shock.”
This summit was the first since the appointment of Spain’s Santiago Abascal as leader of the PfE in November.
The party now aims to secure majorities in national governments and EU decision-making, where only Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán currently holds a seat in the Council of the EU, representing the 27 member states.
PfE says it is founded on national sovereignty, traditional values, and the defence of free speech and security. ‘Leading lights’ are Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (France), Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz (Hungary), Matteo Salvini’s Lega (Italy), Geert Wilders (The Netherlands), and Andrej Babiš (Czechia), but there are dozens of others ( including André Ventura’s CHEGA).
In the European parliament, PfE is already the third largest group, after EPP and S&D (Socialists and Democrats).
natasha.donn@portugalresident.com
