As the European Parliament gathers in Brussels again, mainstream news outlet Politico has picked out the personalities they see as the most important movers and shakers among the members. And even Politico can’t overlook two strong voices of the Patriots for Europe: Kinga Gál and Marieke Ehlers—both determined to use the chamber as a platform to advance the views of conservatives and people fed up with the tyranny of Brussels.
Kinga Gál, the Hungarian veteran and first vice president of the Patriots for Europe group, has become the de facto leader of the Parliament’s third-largest political family. While Jordan Bardella claims the presidency of the Patriots, his focus lies mostly in France, leaving Gál to manage the group’s daily operations and represent it in the influential Conference of Presidents. She has taken on the role of enforcer, working to transform the Patriots from a disruptive protest bloc into a force capable of shaping policy outcomes. The Hungarian representative is a very promising figure for all who would like to see change in the EU not by leaving the Alliance but transforming it from within. Gál is outspoken on issues such as illegal immigration, irresponsible spending for supporting Ukraine, and corruption among EU high-level officials.
Marieke Ehlers, by contrast, is at the beginning of her parliamentary career but already making waves. Representing the Dutch right-wing PVV within the Patriots, she has taken on the politically explosive deportations bill, known as the “returns directive.” With migration dominating national debates ahead of the Dutch elections, Ehlers sees the legislation as an opportunity to showcase the far right’s growing strength in Brussels. By positioning herself as the Patriots’ lead negotiator, she aims to demonstrate that her group can shape mainstream legislation, not only rally its base. Ehlers’ strategy is to draw liberals and conservatives into agreements on migration, a policy area where pressure from national politics is forcing even centrist parties to move closer to the far right.
Both Gál and Ehlers illustrate the Patriots’ evolution inside the Parliament: Gál as the experienced operator trying to transform the group into an enduring political power, and Ehlers as the newcomer eager to prove that the Right can force migration to the top of the EU’s legislative agenda. They will face a mountain of opposition from the left-liberal alliance dominating the Union, but with every year passing and governments changing across Europe, conservative voices are sounding louder and louder, with people living in liberal-led countries pushing for a change, their time to lead the strongest conservative party may have come.
