Thousands of right-wing supporters gathered in Italy for an event dubbed “anti-immigrant Glastonbury,” where they applauded far-right leaders including Geert Wilders and Viktor Orban.
At the rally, held annually in Pontida in northern Italy, attendees enjoyed sausages and lots of beer while listening to right-wing leaders from across the continent discuss illegal migration.
One of the main protagonists was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has led the Eastern European nation for almost 15 years transforming it into what he calls an “illiberal democracy.”
Speaking in Pontida he said: “We will never hand over our countries to foreigners.”
Dutch politician Geert Wilders also spoke at the event. Wilder’s far-right Freedom Party (PVV) topped the polls with a surprise victory in last year’s Dutch general election.
Right-wing European politicians from left to right: Dutch politician Geert Wilders, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini
Salvini is a favorite of the Italian far right and many of his supporters in the crowd carry banners emblazoned with “Io sto con Salvini” or “I am with Salvini.”
Thousands of right-wing supporters have gathered in Italy for an event dubbed the ‘anti-immigrant Glastonbury’.
Although only half of the planned 25,000 attendees traveled to Pontida, organizers’ spirits remained high in a year that has seen record results for far-right parties across Europe.
Wilders’ PVV now finds itself part of a coalition government for the first time.
The politician took advantage of his time on stage to affirm that ‘there is a tsunami of massive illegal migration that makes us strangers in our own land.’
Both leaders shared much affection for the host of the transnational festival, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, whom Orban called a “hero” and Wilders even went so far as to tell Salvini “I love you.”
Salvini’s love fest marked a marked improvement in his political fortunes after the leader of Italy’s League Party saw his support collapse in the 2022 election, when fellow right-wing leader Giorgia Meloni was elected prime minister.
Salvini’s rise to prominence was helped when a Sicilian court tried to sentence him to six years in prison last month for stranding a boat with migrants rescued when he was interior minister in 2019.
Before the next hearing, on October 18, a defiant Salvini told his supporters: “I would go to jail with my head held high: they can arrest one person, but they cannot arrest an entire people!”
The case has helped make Salvini once again the darling of Italy’s far-right, with many supporters in the crowd carrying banners emblazoned with “Io sto con Salvini” or “I am with Salvini.”
His apparent growing popularity could damage Meloni’s claim to be the leader of the European right. The Italian prime minister has recently decided to distance herself from the more populist wing of the right and has instead increased her ties with more conventional right-wing parties.
One of the main protagonists was Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has led the Eastern European nation for almost 15 years transforming it into what he calls an “illiberal democracy.” In Pontida he said: “We will never hand over our countries to foreigners.”
Dutch politician Geert Wilders also spoke at the event. Wilder’s far-right Freedom Party (PVV) topped the polls with a surprise victory in last year’s Dutch general election.
Salvini’s love fest marked a marked improvement in his political fortunes after the leader of Italy’s League Party saw his support collapse in the 2022 election, when fellow right-wing leader Giorgia Meloni was elected prime minister.
Although only half of the expected 25,000 attendees traveled to Pontida, organizers’ spirits remained high in a year that has seen record results for far-right parties across Europe.
In Austria, the right-wing Freedom Party (FPO) won the September election despite the party being criticized for referring to its chancellor candidate, Herbert Kickl, as the “People’s Chancellor”, a phrase used to describe Hitler. in Nazi Germany.
Marlene Swazek, vice president of the FPO, was in Pontida where she promised to make Austria a “fortress.”
Elsewhere in Europe, Germany’s AfD party won an election for the first time in its history after topping the poll in a regional election in the former East German state of Thuringia.
France’s National Rally caused a political earthquake in June when they won the EU elections there. This led French President Emmanuel Macron to take a political gamble by calling early legislative elections.
The bet paid off and the National Rally finished in third place, as the famous cordon sanitaire in French politics – designed to keep the far right out of the government – remained intact with voters backing Macron’s centrist Ensemble and in his give rise to a coalition of left-wing parties.
Jordan Bardella, president of the National Group, 29, spoke at the event via video link.
At the rally, held annually in Pontida near Bergamo, Italy, revelers enjoyed sausages and plenty of beer while listening to right-wing leaders from across the continent spout anti-immigrant rhetoric.
In Austria, the Freedom Party (FPO) won the recent elections even though the party was criticized for referring to its candidate for Chancellor as the “People’s Chancellor”, a phrase used to describe Hitler. Marlene Swazek (pictured), vice president of the FPO, was in Pontida where she promised to make Austria a “fortress”
Salvini poses for a selfie with two young followers. The rise of far-right parties across Europe has been fueled by support from young people across the continent.
Much of the rise of right-wing populism across continental Europe has been fueled by support from young people who are drawn to anti-establishment and anti-immigrant messages.
Luigi, 15, said The times that Italy must defend its borders and stated that the train station in Bergamo – the closest city to Pontida – was “full of immigrants”.
The great achievements of far-right parties may not end with the upcoming general elections in Romania later this year.
It has been noted that the Right-wing Eurosceptic Alliance to Unite Romania (AUR) could take second place when Romanians go to the polls in December.