The leader of the French far right Marine Le Pen was received this Wednesday in Budapest by Hungarian nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, displaying their unity nine months before the European elections.
The two officials, who appeared all smiles in front of the flags of their country, “took an update on the situation of the right which is gaining strength in Europe, in particular with a view to the European Parliament vote” in June 2024, wrote on X government spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs. They called for “together give a strong response to the imperialist ambitions of Brussels, its misguided economic policies and its pro-migrant initiatives”.
The finalist of the last two French presidential elections, who was received with great fanfare in October 2021 in Budapest, likes to appear alongside the Hungarian Prime Minister, defender of “illiberal” values in Europe. She was able to benefit from a loan from a Hungarian bank, of the order of more than 10 million euros, for her 2022 presidential campaign.
On the roads of populist Europe
Her trip, which has not been announced, comes shortly after a stay in Italy, where she held a major meeting in mid-September with far-right leader Matteo Salvini. The good form of European populists – in power in Italy, Hungary, Poland or Finland and making strong progress in Austria or Spain – suggests a massive contingent of “nationalist” MEPs in the Strasbourg hemicycle.
But Marine Le Pen’s party is seeing its alliances weaken: the parliamentary group Identity and Democracy (ID), in which the French RN MEPs sit, is in fact weakened and would welcome a rapprochement with the party Orban’s Fidesz. The supporters of the Hungarian leader left the right-wing PPE group, the majority in the chamber, in 2021, without however joining another faction, but sitting among the non-registered.