Bannon overseas to push for new European order

Steve Bannon helped upend the political order in the U.S. before falling out with President Donald Trump. Now he’s looking to re-create his former glories in Europe.

Bannon is planning a roadshow across half a dozen European countries starting this week to galvanize populist leaders and parties into a loose alliance and help gain a bigger foothold for their policies in the European Parliament, Trump’s former strategist said in an interview.

The push to unite populist forces gives urgency to concerns among some European Union leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron at the looming clash of values over the bloc’s future direction. EU leaders meeting in the Austrian city of Salzburg on Wednesday are due to discuss two of the EU’s existential threats, the migration crisis and Brexit, both of which serve as rallying cries for nationalists.

“The individual parties throughout Europe are ‘woke,’” Bannon said in an interview last week in his Washington, D.C., town house, adding that he wants enough like-minded candidates to win seats in the EU Parliament to act as a block on pro-EU groups. “Europe’s going to see an intensity and focus among the voters and the media that what is happening is basically going to be a continentwide presidential election.”

Political forces are aligning ahead of a clash over fundamental principles that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned questions the EU’s future cohesion. The U.K.’s plan to quit the bloc in March, Russian aggression, democratic backsliding in eastern Europe and Trump’s “America First” agenda are all tugging at the foundation of the European project.

So far Matteo Salvini’s anti-immigrant League and the far-right Brothers of Italy are the only two groups that have officially aligned themselves with The Movement, which will offer like-minded parties — free of charge — polling, data analytics, messaging and so-called war room services. The group won’t be involved in selecting candidates or in imposing platforms.

But Belgian politician Mischael Modrikamen, who founded The Movement, sees recent moves by Macron and his allies in Parliament having helped European populists. Last week’s vote in the EU assembly to censure Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban “created an iconic leader out of Orban,” said Modrikamen. As for Macron’s pledge to lead pro-globalist parties against the nationalists, he said, “it’s perfect for us.”

The support Bannon and Modrikamen are offering heightens the likelihood of an electoral clash in May between populist groups that have gained footholds in member states including Germany, Austria, Hungary, Poland, France and Sweden and supporters of the liberal establishment, such as Macron, Belgium’s Charles Michel, Mark Rutte of the Netherlands and Luxembourg’s Xavier Bettel. The four Benelux leaders discussed a European strategy earlier this month to combat the rise of populism, exploring the possibility of joining forces with several European parties ahead of the elections.

“We share the desire to have a more united and sovereign Europe,” Macron said after the meeting, pointing the finger at nationalists for trying to destroy the EU.