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Hungarian leader Viktor Orban was able to build a coalition of like-minded allies who share his strategic goal - the creation of the "Patriots for Europe" group under his leadership became the third largest bloc in the European Parliament. The politician writes about this "outstanding achievement" in Politico.
"The Hungarian leader managed to reorganize European far-right MPs around his own image and that of his Fidesz party, which was thrown into the political wilderness after leaving the center-right group of the European People's Party in 2019," the publication notes.
Journalists believe that recent events demonstrate that Orban is much less isolated than initially thought, capable of building a coalition of like-minded people who share his strategic goal of creating the Patriots for Europe group. This shows that far-right groups in the EU are more than ever committed to this vision. And they are a direct challenge to the more pragmatic populism espoused by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Maloni.
Moreover, political analysts warn that the number of Orbán's supporters will only grow in the future, as several national elections scheduled for the coming months and years could lead to the emergence of new far-right governments. Thus, in September, elections will be held in Austria, where the far-right "Austrian Freedom Party" is currently in the lead, and next autumn in the Czech Republic, where the nationalist party "Action of Dissatisfied Citizens" is the main favorite.
"Such a development risks undermining EU cohesion in key areas, primarily in matters of the EU budget, bloc expansion and foreign policy - especially when it comes to Ukraine. However, consolidation will not completely change the balance of power in the European Parliament and is unlikely to have a significant impact on EU policymaking – at least in the short term,” Politico believes.
Centrist pro-European parties retained a significant majority in Brussels. And together with the Greens, they easily won enough votes to re-appoint European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a second term and support her legislative priorities thereafter.
Consequently, the patriots will remain in opposition with limited ability to influence the EU legislative process. The size of the group will give it slightly more funding, visibility in parliamentary meetings, but it will be denied any significant representation in the governing bodies of the European Parliament.
