Zoltán Kovács called it a “!! Historic moment !!” Kovács is the spokesman for Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary. What was, or is, the “historic moment”? The formation of “Patriots for Europe,” which Kovács says “has been officially accredited as the new defining right-wing political group of the European Parliament.”
It is a group, an alliance, formed by Orbán. It comprises most of the luminaries of the illiberal Right in Europe. The leaders, and their parties, are indeed natural allies.
You have Marine Le Pen and her National Rally, in France. Le Pen has been funded by Putin. She has sometimes been embarrassed by Putin. Running for president in 2022, she prepared pamphlets boasting a photo of her with Putin. Then he launched his full-scale assault on the Ukrainians. She pulped the pamphlets. Ordinarily, however, she has been quite forthright.
Here she is, posing with a kind of trinity:
Very, very forthright has been Matteo Salvini — who let his colors fly in Red Square:
Salvini is the deputy prime minister of Italy, and, of course, he and his party, the League, belong to “Patriots for Europe.” In 2014, Salvini and his fellow party members established a “Friends of Putin” group in the Italian parliament. Three years later, they signed a “friendship and cooperation” agreement with Putin. Salvini called it a “historic deal.”
Last week, Salvini said that “Patriots for Europe” would be “decisive in changing the future of this Europe.” I suppose we will see.
Another member, naturally, is the FPÖ in Austria. Thanks to the FPÖ, Karin Kneissl was foreign minister of Austria from 2017 to 2019. Then she joined the board of Rosneft, the Russian oil giant. She blogged for RT, the Kremlin propaganda network. Today, she actually lives in Russia, working for Putin more directly.
In 2018, she danced with him at her wedding:
If you want to see patriots in Europe, look to the Ukrainians — who are demonstrating their patriotism every day, fighting to keep their country, their sovereignty, their very right to exist.
(Last year, members of the FPÖ walked out of parliament when Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, addressed the parliament by video.)
Mitch McConnell is the Republican leader in the U.S. Senate, and will be for a few more months. He has been frank about Viktor Orbán and his works. In May, he said, “Hungary’s leaders have cozied up to America’s greatest strategic adversaries” — namely, Russia, China, and Iran.
Last week, McConnell gave another speech, commenting on Orbán’s trips to Moscow and Beijing, and Hungary’s continued dealings with Iran. He noted that Orbán had accused NATO of “seeking conflict” rather than trying to resolve or prevent conflict.
“How insidious,” said McConnell. “Hungary knows what Soviet repression feels like. How its leader could mistake NATO’s efforts to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression for ‘the pursuit of war’ is beyond me.”
He also said this:
“Unfortunately, Mr. Orbán’s curious soft spot for authoritarians isn’t limited to the aggressor that, ironically, drove Hungary to join NATO in the first place. This week, he also found time to visit Beijing to reinforce what both Hungary and the PRC call ‘an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership.’”
Yes.
McConnell said,
“Republicans in Washington who fashion themselves both ‘national conservatives’ and China hawks should pay more attention to Mr. Orbán’s actions and ask themselves if they are consistent with America’s interests.”
On the overall theme of NATO, Orbán, Russia, and Iran, McConnell said, “The most successful military alliance in human history didn’t get this way by letting dictators and theocrats eat our lunch.”
McConnell is a Republican. He has been a Republican for a lot longer than Donald Trump, whom the party is nominating for president for the third time in a row. McConnell joined the Republican Party before J. D. Vance was born. But, obviously, it is a Trump-Vance party. Each of those men is a great admirer and ally of Viktor Orbán.
Do Republicans want to be the kind of party that fits into “Patriots for Europe”? A party that is kin to Orbán, Le Pen, Salvini, et al.? Yes, for now. But parties can change, as we have seen so dramatically in recent times.
One more thought: For people who style themselves “nationalists,” the leaders of the illiberal Right are very good at internationalism — at locking arms with one another. In 2017, Steve Bannon founded a group in Brussels — a coalition — that he called “The Movement.” Also in 2017, Britain’s Nigel Farage traveled to Alabama, to campaign for Roy Moore for the U.S. Senate. He had just come from Germany, where he had campaigned for candidates of the AfD.
Advocates of liberal democracy ought to be half as energetic and half as coalition-minded.