Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán hailed former U.S. President Donald Trump’s influence, declaring, “Our friend Trump, the Trump tornado, has transformed the world in just a few weeks. A new era has begun. Today, everyone recognizes that we are the future.” Orbán, the most senior leader at the rally, joined other far-right figures in Madrid to celebrate their growing political momentum.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen echoed the sentiment, asserting, “We are witnessing a global tipping point.” She also noted the apparent diminishing presence of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, claiming, “Since Trump’s inauguration, she has virtually disappeared from public view.”
The rally, held at Madrid Airport’s Marriott Conference Center, attracted around 2,000 people, many of them staunch supporters of the Spanish far-right party Vox. Attendees, dressed in designer outfits, gathered to hear a lineup of European nationalist leaders, including Orbán, Le Pen, Dutch politician Geert Wilders, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, Czech former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, and Austrian Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl. Kickl, who participated via video link as he negotiated to become Austria’s new chancellor, highlighted his recent electoral victory as a sign of shifting political tides.
The leaders repeatedly vowed to reclaim control of Europe’s governments from Socialist, liberal, and center-right parties. They drew a historical parallel to Spain’s “Reconquista,” the medieval Christian conquest of the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim rulers.
Kickl argued that people across the continent were rejecting the policies of EU centralists and left-wing ideologies, pledging to establish a new model of European cooperation based on national sovereignty.
Criticism of the EU and Migration Policies
A common theme emerged throughout the speeches: criticism of the EU leadership and von der Leyen’s policies. Many leaders blamed Brussels for Europe’s economic struggles and social challenges.
The gathering underscored the far-right’s ambitions to reshape European politics by opposing the EU’s Green Deal and migration policies, positioning themselves as champions of national interests over centralized EU governance.
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