Spain’s Vox party, led by Santiago Abascal, is leaving the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group to join the Patriots for Europe spearheaded by Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The announcement on July 5 came after the Spanish delegation met with Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni in Sicily.
Speaking to Brussels Signal, sources within the party insisted that the decision “has nothing to do” with a possible confrontation with Fratelli D’Italia or the leadership of the Italian party.
“On the contrary, we can only show gratitude to the ECR and to Prime Minister Meloni for all this time together,” the source said, emphasising how they had been offered vice-presidency of the group.
Another source claimed that Vox “has played a decisive role in improving relations between different parties” during this past legislature.
In May this year, Abascal’s party held the Viva Europa 24 event that managed to bring together a large number of prominent political personalities of the international Right, such as the Argentinean Libertarian Javier Milei and RN de facto leader Marine Le Pen.
Alongside Vox’s six members, according to sources close to the Patriots, “Marine Le Pen’s National Rally will most likely join” the new group following the end of France’s snap general election.
Abascal is one of Orbán’s main allies in the European union and a staunch supporter of his policies against the “bureaucratisation” of the bloc and the “absorption of sovereignty” by Brussels.
Viktor Orbán’s Patriots for Europe project appears set to absorb the Identity and Democracy (ID) group within the European Parliament.https://t.co/y6xwTArXoK
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 5, 2024
