The leading figure of the French far right, Marine Le Pen, called on Sunday May 19 from Madrid to make June 9 – the day of the European elections in France – “a day of deliverance and hope” and called for a “ reorientation of the European Union”.
Ms. Le Pen, who spoke in the Spanish capital at a gathering of around ten European sovereignist parties in the presence of Argentine President, the ultraliberal Javier Milei, devoted a large part of her speech to what she called “migratory swamping.”
“The European Union, as it exists today, is nothing but a counterfeit,” she declared at the Europa Viva 24 congress organized by the Spanish far-right party Vox three weeks before European vote, which will take place between June 6 and 9 in the 27 member countries of the European Union (EU). “We are, all together, in the home stretch to make June 9 a day of deliverance and hope,” said the former president of the National Rally (RN).
In a speech lasting around twelve minutes, she vilified EU officials, accused of “promoting Islamism and Wokism” and of wanting “the disappearance of European borders”. “Entire areas of my country, France, are subject to migratory submersion and today escape the authority of the State,” insisted the former candidate for the presidential election in France, denouncing a “situation of migratory separatism”.
“On this subject, the European Union is doing nothing. Worse: she is organizing it with the famous pact on asylum and immigration” recently adopted by the Twenty-Seven, she continued. “Tomorrow, when we arrive, I hope, in large numbers at the European Parliament, it will be time to begin the reorientation of the European Union,” she added, while the RN is credited by all the polls organized in France by around 30% of voting intentions, which places it far ahead of the other lists.
Several far-right leaders
Described by Vox as a “convention of European patriots”, this congress brought together several leaders of the European far right, some speaking via video messages, such as the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and her Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orban .
It took place while far-right parties – which, according to polls, are on the rise in all other European countries – are engaged in a behind-the-scenes battle over the composition of future groups in Parliament European.
The RN is currently a member of the Identity and Democracy group, while Vox, as well as Ms. Meloni’s party, Fratelli d’Italia, belongs to the European Conservatives and Reformists group. Asked during the congress about the opportunity to appear alongside President Milei, Ms. Le Pen considered it necessary to have “the best possible relations” with Argentina, despite “different” political visions.