Common Dreams reported that a group gathered to protest a far-right summit taking place in Spain, organized by Spain’s right-wing Vox party, with attendees including “French National Rally party President Marine Le Pen, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Portuguese Chega party President André Ventura.” Voters are preparing for the European Union elections taking place in June. 

HEIDI BEIRICH; heidi@globalextremism.org, @heidibeirich, @globalextremism 
    Beirich is cofounder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE). 

Beirich told the Institute for Public Accuracy: This summit is “a regular occurrence that shows how much on the same page these governments and far-right actors are. The conferences have become quite routine… Not enough attention is being paid to the conferences yet. Not enough attention on the transnational far-right network which is enacting policies that are rolling back rights for women, LGBTQ [people], immigrants and refugees. The lens is all domestic.”

Beirich emphasized Hungary’s backslide in particular. “The EU Parliament,” she said, “called Hungary an electoral autocracy” in 2022. The EU withheld funds from the country for “politicizing the judiciary, [and for its anti-] LGBTQ legislation, but they’re still in the [EU].” Viktor Orbán’s government is even set to become president of the Council of the European Union in July 2024. “This is an anti-democratic actor in the heart of the EU. Withholding payments is okay, but shouldn’t you [the EU Parliament] take stronger measures?” 

GPAHE has collected information on 300 far-right conferences that have taken place in the last decade, with more than 3,000 different attendees. “There is a true international collective effort by the far-right to organize and share ideas. This event [in Madrid] is an example. Not only were the EU far-right parties there, announcing their campaign pledges for the upcoming EU parliament elections, but these networks [also] exist across borders outside the EU. They share anti-LGBTQ, anti-abortion rhetoric. Hysterical language about the left destroying society has reached the highest levels. 

“The coordination is deep. [There are] multiple sets of conferences every year where the Melonis and Orbáns show up, as well as powerful think tanks like Heritage [Foundation]. There are [also] multiple CPAC events held in Washington, D.C., Texas, Australia, featuring high-level political figures, including Republicans from the U.S. These are networking events where you find high-level leaders of far-right governments speaking to think tanks from other countries.”