Marine Le Pen is in Portugal for two days. While Geert Wilders’ far right won the legislative elections in the Netherlands, the head of the RN deputies is launching the European campaign next June for her party. The three-time presidential candidate in France appears alongside André Ventura, leader of the Chega party! The National Rally is looking for allies in the EU.
4 mins
With our special correspondent in Lisbon, Pierrick Bonno
Around ten far-right parties gathered in Lisbon on Friday November 24 for a meeting of their group at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, of which the National Rally is a part. And Marine Le Pen herself made the trip to the torch party.
The two leaders know each other very well: Marine Le Pen and André Ventura appear accomplices in front of journalists. And the leader of the Portuguese far-right party is visibly happy to see the boss of the French deputies of the National Rally again.
“ It is an enormous pleasure to be here with Marine Le Pen, who has already come to Portugal several times, who supported my candidacy for the last presidential election, and with whom I maintain an ongoing collaboration », explains André Ventura.
Buoyed by flattering polls, the Chega! could enter the European Parliament next June. And come fill the ranks of the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, of which the National Rally is a part. With a goal for Marine Le Pen:
Constitute a majority, and incidentally, a blocking minority.
And what does it matter if these allies, namely the Portuguese Chega!, the Party for Freedom (PVV, Netherlands) or even Alternative for Germany (AfD) are on a more radical, openly xenophobic and more eurosceptic line than the RN.
Marine Le Pen dodges: “ Within a group, we are like in a joint ownership. If one day there are comments that I consider to be incompatible with our values, we will say so. »
During a meeting in 2021, a German AfD official launched a Nazi slogan in the middle of a meeting. Obviously not incompatible with the values of the National Rally.
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Six months before the European elections, and a few days after Geert Wilders’ victory in the Dutch legislative elections, the European far right is in fact galvanized.
The Dutchman was applauded for a long time in Lisbon, even though he was not in the audience. Her allies wanted to salute a victory which bodes very well for the Europeans, according to Marine Le Pen herself.
“ We are now a group which is structured and which will obviously grow, she rejoices. Again, many of our movements are given lead in their respective countries. And then there are movements that are doubling their forecasts. »
“ In Portugal, it’s Chega! », Notes the French leader, while the leader of the Portuguese party believes that the people of the European Union want change. “ People are fed up with traditional parties “, he believes.
People want something new. They want to try new models of governance.
In Portugal, immigration and the decline in purchasing power are not the main reasons for the popularity of André Ventura’s training. For Ricardo, head of the party’s youth organization, “ the main problem here is the fight against corruption. »
“ Right now, he continues, we have a corrupt government. This pushed the Prime Minister to resign because of the suspicions weighing on him and his team. And that is really very serious in the minds of the Portuguese. »
The national contexts are different, the programs sometimes distant. But what does it matter!, Marine Le Pen likes to repeat. “ We are not clones. The important thing is to make the patriots win », Considers the leader of the National Rally.
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