The Danish People’s Party and the Flemish Vlaams Belang have joined the radical right-wing alliance launched by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Patriots of Europe, which should enable the alliance to meet the legal threshold for the establishment of a new faction in EP, which requires drawing at least 23 MEPs from seven countries, local media wrote on July 6.

A day before Hungary’s rotating EU presidency began on July 1, Orban’s party Fidesz announced that it would form a caucus in the European Parliament with the populist ANO party of former Czech prime minister Andej Babis and the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) of Austria’s  Herbert Kickl.

The Patriots for Europe group, as it has been named, challenges the radical-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID), the latter of which was the erstwhile home of the FPÖ. 

The creation of a third EP group to the right of the centre-right's European People's Party (EPP) demonstrates the fragmentation of the hard right and its divisions, notably over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But it also illustrates the way that Orban, as the leader of only a middle-sized country in the EU, has become one of its most influential leaders on the right, reconstructing the party factions in a way that puts him at the centre. 

As bne Intellinews reported, the radical right-wing Hungarian prime minister has been in talks with ANO, Polish PiS, Slovenian SDS and the Slovak Smer of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Previously, he had expressed an intention to join ECR, but due to the opposition of some of its members over Hungary's pro-Moscow stance, ECR party leader and Italian premier Giorgia Meloni rejected his plea. To save face, Fidesz argued that they refused to join because ECR accepted "anti-Hungarian" Romanian far right party ARU to its ranks.

Hungary's nationalist leader has been trying to lure PiS from the ECR to join his alliance of Central European nationalists but was rebuffed by his ally, former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Later the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV), which won the Dutch elections in November, the Portuguese Chega party and the Spanish Vox joined the Patriots for Europe, the latter leaving ECR. The leader of Italy’s La Liga Matteo Salvini signalled that his party could also join the new right-wing alliance, saying that "they are working on it".

Hungary's leader has toured European capitals in the past weeks to discuss the country’s presidency priorities, but talks also evolved around gathering support for the new right-wing alliance.

The manifesto, signed on June 30 in Vienna, outlines the vision for a Europe consisting of strong, independent nations that reject further centralisation of power in Brussels and uphold national sovereignty, fighting illegal migration and pushing back EU measures to reduce climate change.

The Hungarian prime minister announced that the parties would convene on July 8 in Brussels for an inaugural meeting, but that will probably be rescheduled as Orban arrived in China in the early hours of July 8. 

Liberal hvg.hu, citing Le Monde, writes that the big question is whether France’s National Rally would be ready to join the new alliance with its 30 MEPs. National Rally suffered an unexpected defeat in the runoff in the French general election at the weekend, falling to third place after leading in the first round the previous weekend.

In that case, Marine Le Pen's ID faction would be emptied and the Patriots of Europe would become the third-largest faction in the EP, which would bolster Orban’s aspiration as a leader of Eurosceptic forces in the EU. He has campaigned with the slogan of taking back institutions from bureaucrats.

Individual factions are to file their names and deputies by July 15 before the opening session of the new European Parliament on July 16-19.