Leaders of right-wing parties within the “Patriots for Europe” group — the third-largest coalition in the European Parliament — gathered in Madrid for a major event under the slogan “Make Europe Great Again,” Reuters reports.
The event was attended by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, the informal leader of France’s National Rally party Marine Le Pen, and the leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom Geert Wilders.
Participants at the meeting expressed support for Donald Trump’s return to power. “Trump’s tornado changed the world in a few weeks… Yesterday we were heretics, today we are mainstream,” Orbán said before about two thousand right-wing supporters.
All speakers at the event were against immigration, and most called for a new “Reconquista” — a reference to the medieval Christian kingdoms’ conquest of Muslim-controlled parts of the Iberian Peninsula.
The event was opened by former Estonian Finance Minister Mart Helme, following a video message from Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. Recently, Orbán stated that with the beginning of Donald Trump’s second presidential term, a new phase of action begins, with the goal of “occupying Brussels.”
