Social conservatives across Europe see President Donald Trump’s decisive victory as the beginning of a larger global campaign to undo decades of progressive policies in Western nations.
Among the political parties at the forefront of this movement is Patriots for Europe, the third-largest political group in the European Parliament, and its affiliated Patriots.EU party.
The Hungarian Embassy in Washington, D.C., held a reception for Patriots.EU leaders on Tuesday, where the group celebrated Trump’s inauguration and what they believe will be a period of surging relevance for commonsense conservatism.
“This is the first event that I can hold in Washington, D.C., under an administration which is not hostile to us,” Hungarian Ambassador Szabolcs Takács told an applauding crowd. “I can feel a change [in the] air.”
“You know, the liberals always told us, ‘Oh, we don’t have to worry about your international network because you conservatives, you fascists, you radicals, you like only yourself and you will never have international relations,’” Takács said, admitting that “it was in fact a gargantuan task — to set up a network of patriots in Europe.”
Vox Party leader Santiago Abascal, the current president of Patriots.EU, addressed the gathering in his native Spanish. He asserted that Trump’s victory was a “revolution of common sense,” and a “return to the path of sanity and prosperity.”
“Europe cannot miss this train. You cannot miss this opportunity. It’s our responsibility and our duty, which we owe to our parents and to the future generations,” he added.
Leaders from across Europe were in attendance, including Susanne Fürst of the Austrian Freedom Party, Thibaut Francois of France’s National Rally, Kinga Gál of the Hungarian Fidesz Party, Tom Van Grieken of the Belgian Vlaams Belang Party, Klara Dostalova of the Czech ANO, Paolo Borchia of the Italian Lega, and Petr Macinka of the Czech Motorists for Themselves Party.
Patriots.EU, which boasts member parties from approximately a dozen different European countries, proposes international cooperation based on mutual self-interest.
Its members are fiercely eurosceptic, largely traditionalist, and concerned about the preservation of national identity in the face of modern globalism.
“The Nations of Europe are at a historic juncture,” the coalition’s manifesto reads. “The European Union— once a dream project rooted in a desire for reconciliation after the destruction caused by two world wars and decades of division — has turned against Europeans and now pursues interests contrary to the will of the Nations, Regions and small communities that constitute our European home.”
Patriots.EU blames “institutions largely unknown to and removed from European citizens,” as well as “strong globalist forces, unelected bureaucrats, lobbies and interest groups with contempt for the voice of the majority and of popular democracy,” for their continent’s economic and cultural decline.
While party leaders do not want to dissolve the European Union, they are emphatic that structural reforms granting greater national sovereignty are necessary for the survival of a continent that is losing influence and falling behind the United States and China.
Trump’s surprise return to the Oval Office signifies to them that Europe, which is already anticipating a rightward leap this year in once-progressive countries such as Germany and France, is prepared for a similar political upheaval.
The conservative allies have adopted much of the Trump movement’s window dressing, promoting the slogan “Make Europe Great Again,” or MEGA, as their battle cry.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, maybe Trump’s biggest fan on the continent, even made the MEGA slogan the motto for its 2024 presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Trump has hosted Orbán at his private residence in Mar-a-Lago multiple times over the years, most recently in December when they were joined by tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Musk spotlighted the MEGA movement earlier this week, posting to social media, “From MAGA to MEGA: Make Europe Great Again!”
The billionaire seems to be spearheading his own campaign to oust progressive parties from European politics, endorsing Germany’s Alternative for Deutschland, or AfD, party and regularly denigrating the United Kingdom’s reigning Labour Party.
Leaders within the European establishment have voiced outrage at Musk’s increasing involvement in foreign politics, characterizing the social media mogul as an alien influence on the public.
“What we must criticize is not that a billionaire, or a billionaire from other countries in a global world, expresses his opinion — but what he says,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at a news conference on Friday. “He supports the extreme right throughout Europe, in Britain, in Germany, in many, many other countries, and that is something that is completely unacceptable.”
French President Emmanuel Macron accused Musk earlier this month of “supporting a new international reactionary movement” and “intervening directly in elections.”
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Germany is slated to conduct parliamentary elections on Feb. 23. AfD is sitting at an unprecedented second place in national polls.
The outcome is widely predicted to be a bellwether for political trends across the European Union.
