Vox, Le Pen, Orban and Morawiecki in Madrid
Newsletter: The Ciudadanos candidate in the regional elections in Castilla y León, Igea, has tested positive for Covid right at the start of the campaign.
Europe's far right, or alt right or very traditional conservative right is having a big meeting in Madrid this weekend, hosted by Vox. France's Marine Le Pen and Hungary's Viktor Orban have already turned up. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is coming on Saturday. Others from Italy, Romania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Austria, Estonia, Lithuania and Holland are on the list too. After his weekend in Spain, Orban will meet Putin on Tuesday in Moscow.
According to the press releases, the group wants to "defend Europe" in a "patriots summit". Defend against whom? Globalists, who are "threatning the European Union by attacking the sovereignty of nations"."Debemos proteger nuestras fronteras, nuestra soberanía y nuestras raíces. Europa tiene que ser fiel a sí misma. La mayoría de los europeos así lo exige", says Abascal in the press release quote, which also talks about a clash between European countries and bureacratic elites in Brussels.
So a grand nationalist, populist, reactionary gathering in the Spanish capital, then, to talk about a vision of international relations and a concept of Europe that at the very least goes against the direction everything has been moving in since the end of the Second World War. At the previous meet up in Madrid in October, a warmer outdoor affair, there was also a marked religious (Christian) tone to the rhetoric. The anti-globalist conspiracy nonsense was on display in Abascal's campaign speech for the regional elections in León the other night.
So far, Vox has tried hard not to let international matters damage its disciplined rural messaging for the northern ballot. Cows, horses, country attire, tractors, fields. The party took days to announce even a small position on the Ukraine crisis. Europe spokesman Buxadé dodged the question about Abascal and Putin. Now most of the top far-right leaders in Europe are in Madrid. You would think Abascal would make the most of this for the regional elections, just a few hours drive north. Will we see Ortega Smith with Viktor Orban talking about Ukraine in Salamanca? Or does Vox not want to sully its epic campaign videos of horses and country folk with Marine Le Pen ranting about immigrants?
Subscribe now on Substack: https://thespainreport.substack.com/subscribe
Your €10/month helps guarantee this independent reporting and analysis.