European far right celebrates U.S. leader
Nationalist politicians gather to unite in hopes of following in Donald Trump’s footsteps
KOBLENZ, GERMANY— Declaring that 2017 will be the “year of the awakening of the people of continental Europe,” French far-right presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen joined fellow nationalists Saturday at a conference in Germany, in a show of populist confidence as Europe faces a series of high-stakes elections.
Right-wing leaders from France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and elsewhere strode confidently into the Koblenz congress hall on the banks of the Rhine River ahead of a flag-waving escort, setting the tone for a gathering whose mood was buoyed by Donald Trump’s swearing-in as U.S. president.
The European parties hope for similar success in tapping anti-establishment and protectionist sentiment in elections this year.
“I believe we are witnessing historic times,” Dutch anti-Islam leader Geert Wilders told reporters. “The world is changing. America is changing. Europe is changing. And the people start getting in charge again.”
Wilders, speaking in English, declared that “the genie will not go back into the bottle again, whether you like it or not.” The Netherlands will provide the next major test for populist parties’ support. Wilders’ Party of Freedom could win the largest percentage of votes in the March 15 Dutch parliamentary election even though it is shunned by other parties and unlikely to get a share of power.
Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right National Front, is among the top contenders in France’s AprilMay presidential vote.
In September, Frauke Petry’s four- year-old Alternative for Germany party hopes to enter the German parliament in a national election, riding sentiment against German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s welcoming policy toward refugees. Other German parties say they won’t work with the anti-immigrant group.
Those at the Koblenz conference Saturday are part of the Europe of Nations and Freedom group in the European Parliament, which was launched in 2015.
The gathering also featured Matteo Salvini of Italy’s anti-migrant Northern League and Harald Vilimsky, the general secretary of Austria’s rightwing Freedom Party, which last year narrowly failed to win the country’s presidency.
Trump “is a winner, we are winners: Frauke Petry, Marine Le Pen, Geert Wilders, all of us here are winners,” Vilimsky told an audience of around 1,000. Speakers also denounced “political Islam” and the euro, which Salvini labelled “a failed, criminal experiment.”
Le Pen revelled in Trump taking power in the U.S., months after Britain voted to leave the 28-nation European Union in a referendum that she hopes to emulate.
“2016 was the year when the AngloSaxon world woke up. And 2017, I am sure, will be the year of the awakening of the people of continental Europe,” she said. She denounced the EU as “a force of sterilization” and assailed Merkel for allowing in large numbers of asylum-seekers last year. Le Pen praised Trump for what she said was a clear position on Europe. “He will not support a system of oppression of the people.”
The leaders sought to portray their focus on nationalist priorities that don’t necessarily converge as a virtue rather than a weakness.
Le Pen lauded “the coherence that we have, above and beyond our differences, which we like.” Le Pen added that Trump was elected on the back of many of the ideas the European nationalists hold dear, pointing to “common accents” with what they have long said in his inauguration speech on Friday.
About 5,000 demonstrators gathered outside the congress centre in Koblenz, singing the European anthem “Ode to Joy.”
Elsewhere in Koblenz, demonstrators from the global AVAAZ activist group placed statues of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Joseph Stalin, among others, in front of a landmark statue of German Kaiser Wilhelm.
AVAAZ organizer Pascal Vollenweider said the statues of the dictators were meant to send a “strong message” to the nationalist politicians’ meeting that “global citizens are rejecting their old dangerous ideas.”
“They are not fascists in jackboots, it’s a different type of fascism, of course. But if you look at the ideas . . . it’s very dangerous, and we have to face it,” he said.