European Alliance of Peoples and Nations
European Alliance of Peoples and Nations | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Matteo Salvini |
| Founded | 8 April 2019 |
| Ideology | Nationalism National conservatism Social conservatism Anti-immigration Right-wing populism Euroscepticism |
| Political position | Right-wing to far-right[1][2] |
| European Parliament group | Identity and Democracy |
| European Parliament | 34 / 751 |
| European Council | 0 / 28 |
| European Lower Houses | 430 / 9,874 |
| European Upper Houses | 81 / 2,714 |
The European Alliance of Peoples and Nations (EAPN) is a coalition of eurosceptic, nationalist, and right-wing populist parties formed to contest the 2019 European Parliamentary elections[3] and, subsequently, to form a joint group in the European Parliament.
The alliance seeks to replace the Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom and "go beyond" the Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) parliamentary group.[4] According to Marine Le Pen, leader of the French National Rally, ENF members "have mandated Matteo Salvini [...] to try to build this very big group of the Defence of European Nations" in the European parliament and "want to go further and get the group which is the biggest, the strongest possible".[5] To this extent, the EAPN has been recruiting parties which have been members of other parliamentary groups, especially the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD).
History
The EAPN was announced on 8 April 2019 by Italy's League leader Matteo Salvini, Alternative for Germany leader Jörg Meuthen, the Danish People's Party's Anders Vistisen and the Finns Party's Olli Kotro, during a convention hosted by Salvini in Milan.[3] Subsequently, the National Rally,[5] the Vlaams Belang[6] and the Freedom Party of Austria,[7][8][9] all three ENF members, announced their intention to join. We Are Family, the Slovenian National Party and the Conservative People's Party of Estonia also declared their intention to join.[10][11] Some of these parties, along with the Party for Freedom, Freedom and Direct Democracy and Volya party, held a joint-rally in Milan on 18 May.[12] In May 2019 the right-wing populist National Renovator Party announced on its website its intent to join the alliance.[13] Also the Maltese Patriots Movement called the EAPN "[their] Alliance" in a Facebook post.[14]
Salvini sought the support of other popular European right-wing parties, including Law and Justice and the Sweden Democrats.[15] However, both parties have not agreed to join and instead confirmed their commitment to the European Conservatives and Reformists group, one of the main reasons being the League's and National Rally's ties to United Russia.[16][17] Otherwise, after supportive statements from founder Salvini it has been suggested that Vox could join.[18] Another possible EAPN member could be Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance, which was suspended from the European People's Party because of the Hungarian government's nationalism and treatment of the rule of law.[19][20][21] Additionally, Salvini has expressed sympathy for Brexit Party and also publicly stated his wish for the party to join his alliance: despite his rejection of far-right politics, party leader Nigel Farage has not ruled out joining the EAPN.[22]
On 13 June 2019 RF leader Marine Le Pen launched the Identity and Democracy group in Brussels, being composed of 73 MEPs and lead by LN MEP Marco Zanni.[23][24]
Member parties
The following parties listed below have either declared their commitment to the group or announced their intention to join the group.
See also
References
- ^ Rachel Donadio (8 April 2019). "A New European Political Bloc Wants to Dismantle Europe". The Atlantic.
- ^ Miles Johnson; Ben Hall; Mehreen Khan (17 May 2019). "Salvini burnishes credentials to lead Europe's far-right". Financial Times.
- ^ a b "European nationalists form alliance for elections". BBC News. 8 April 2019 – via www.bbc.com.
- ^ Baume, Maïa de La (8 April 2019). "Salvini aims high with populist alliance for Europe". POLITICO.
- ^ a b "French right-winger Le Pen wants Italy's Salvini to form populist EU group". Independent.ie.
- ^ "Lega en AfD starten nieuwe eurosceptische fractie, ook Vlaams Belang doet mee". De Standaard.
- ^ "Freedom Party Of Austria Wants To Join Newly-Created EAPN Alliance - Secretary General". Urdupoint. 9 April 2019.
- ^ "Austrian far-right party to join Salvini's EU election alliance". Politico. 9 April 2019.
- ^ "Kollárovci sa pridali k európskemu extrému, možní domáci spojenci s tým majú problém". Dennik N. 11 April 2019.
- ^ "EKRE poised to join proposed right-wing European parliamentary group". Eesti Rahvusringhääling. 11 April 2019.
- ^ Elects, Europe (19 April 2019). "Slovenia: SNS tells @EuropeElects that they intend to join the right-wing ENF/EAPN group in the EU Parliament. They currently have a chance of 7% of getting one out of 705 seats in the EU Parliament (EU27 projection). Latest polls show their chances rising though. #EP2019".
- ^ Giuffrida, Angela (18 May 2019). "Europe's far-right leaders unite with a vow to 'change history'" – via www.theguardian.com.
- ^ Pinto-Coelho, José (24 May 2019). "O PNR estreita relações com o ENL".
- ^ "Our Alliance". 26 May 2019 – via www.facebook.com.
- ^ "Italy Invites Poland to the Anti-EU Party".
- ^ https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2019-01-10/poles-signal-caution-over-alliance-with-italys-salvini
- ^ "Danish People's Party joins right-wing nationalist alliance in EU parliament". 8 April 2019.
- ^ "Salvini desea buena suerte a Vox para las elecciones generales". La Vanguardia. 26 April 2019.
- ^ "Hungary's Orban inches closer to Salvini-led anti-migrant EU bloc".
- ^ "Orban says Salvini is the most important politician in Europe".
- ^ "Italy's Salvini bonds with Orban at razor wire fence in Hungary".
- ^ "Nigel Farage's Brexit Party refuses to rule out joining far-right EU group with Salvini and Le Pen". The Independent. 21 May 2019.
- ^ "France's Le Pen unveils new far-right European Parliament group". 13 June 2019 – via uk.reuters.com.
- ^ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/europes-populists-rebrand-but-policies-remain-the-same/2019/06/13/db3e0a44-8dd3-11e9-b6f4-033356502dce_story.html
- ^ "Extrema direita une forças para eleições europeias". Terra. 25 April 2019.
- ^ "Bundesvorstand".