On the heels of the first-ever Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held on European soil—and against the springtime backdrop of Budapest’s iconic 19th century Vajdahunyad Castle—a bright, clear-skied Saturday morning saw future leaders of the emergent nationalist-populist movement worldwide convene for a summit on “The Future of Western Renewal.”
The conference, organized by Republicans for a National Renewal of the U.S., in collaboration with Hungary’s Fidelitas and Italy’s Lega Giovani, brought together representatives from the youth wings of various European national conservative parties. These included Austria’s Freedom Party (FPÖ), France’s Rassemblement National, Belgium’s Vlaams Belang, Slovakia’s Sme Rodina, Latvia’s National Alliance, and the Conservative People’s Party of Estonia.
Organizers of this year’s conference—the first in-person meeting of board-level representatives—sought to lay the groundwork for bilateral networking and future collaboration between conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
Mark Ivanyo, the executive director of the U.S.-based Republicans for National Renewal, said he hoped that the summit would “provide a solid foundation for the future unification of American Republican youth and their European counterparts and promote the strengthening of friendly ties between our countries.”
The meeting focused on issues that will play a pivotal role in the survival and renewal of Western Civilization. In a roundtable discussion, participants zeroed in on topics central to our time—like immigration, national sovereignty, and the importance of the family.
Speakers included Davide Quadri, international secretary of Lega Giovani; Norbert Rimóczi, acting international secretary of Fidelitas; MP Filip Brusselmans, president of Vlaams Belang Jongeren; Enzo Alias, vice president of Génération Nation; Jack Blakely, assistant treasurer of Young Republicans; Martin Petriska, chairman of Mladi pomahau-Sme Rodina; Gavin Wax, digital director of Young Republicans; Maximilian Weinzierl, representative for Ring Freiheitlicher Jugend Österreich; Raz Granot, international secretary of Noar HaLikud; and Eino Rantanen, chairman for Sinine Äratus.
Immigration
All speakers considered mass immigration and demographic replacement as having had deleterious effects on their respective nation-states, democracies, cultures, and identities, further observing that such population changes were unsustainable. Many suggested remigration as the only solution to the problem. All participants also agreed that, for remigration policies to be legislated into existence, national-conservative, anti-globalist, and populist parties would need to redouble their efforts to win over those who now vote for Left and Right liberal parties—the main promoters of mass migration.
The undue stress that mass migration places on European societies was also a key, recurrent theme. FPÖ representative Maximilian Weinzierl underscored that half of the schoolchildren in Austria today do not speak German as their mother tongue. “If you want to see the future of Austria,” he said, “look to Germany: Austria is usually ten years behind.”
Enzo Alias of Génération Nation chimed in, noting that in French cities like Marseille, more than 50% of the people have Algerian or Tunisian identities, and in other cities across France, up to 75% of the names are African. Meanwhile, Belgian MP Filip Brusselmans of Vlaams Belang spoke of similar challenges in Belgium, noting that half of the inmates in Belgian prisons are migrants. “We lost Brussels. We lost Ghent,” he warned the audience.
Davide Quadri stressed that European governments, instead of inviting millions of migrants to the continent, must enact policies that will help would-be migrants in their own homelands. He then reiterated statements made elsewhere by Lega chief Matteo Salvini, who during his time as Italy’s interior minister, said: “Hungary has shown that we can stop migrants on land. Salvini has shown migrants can be stopped at sea.” Raz Granot of Noar HaLikud echoed this, saying that Budapest is “the only European city where you can see actual Hungarian people on the streets.” You don’t see that in Brussels, or London, or elsewhere, he said.
National sovereignty
Regarding national sovereignty and how to defend it, speakers highlighted the need to reform the increasingly federalized European Union. Both U.S. and European representatives agreed that the federalist model of the U.S. should, under no circumstance, be applied to the 27 member states in the EU, arguing instead that the bloc should be based on cooperation and mutual respect between sovereign member states.
Of the Europeans present, while all were in agreement that the Schengen free movement area and the common market should remain in place, efforts to remove the bloc’s unanimity rule were regarded by all as unacceptable and something to be fiercely opposed at all costs. Regarding the ‘Conference on the Future of Europe,’ all parties agreed that the initiative was clear proof that the EU has become little more than a liberal echo chamber—and does not represent the interests of everyday, working Europeans.
The family
During the discussion’s segment on the family, all delegates concurred that strong families—and government policies that support and promote them—are of paramount importance for the survival and renewal of Western Civilization. Naturally, Hungary’s pro-family, natalist policies were lauded by all, with the American delegates saying that it ought to be reproduced and applied in the United States. Representatives from Western Europe, however, despite their support for Hungary’s pro-natalist policies, raised concerns that similar policies applied to their multicultural societies could end up financing the majority population’s eventual replacement.
Delegates also spoke of the need to eliminate LGBT, gender ideology, and multicultural propaganda from schools, adding that children should instead be reading pro-European literature that promotes the traditional family and venerates motherhood and fatherhood.
All agreed that the societal, cultural, and institutional breakdown presently being witnessed across the West is directly attributable to the breakdown of the family—and that transatlantic national conservatives should be working tirelessly to influence policies that will reverse the trend.
Future cooperation
Quadri of Lega Giovani told The European Conservative he found it inspirational to see “prominent leaders from the Young Republicans assemble with national conservative parties across Europe to establish a foundation upon which we all can use to help build a brighter future.” He emphasized that “cooperation between right-wing activists on both sides of the Atlantic” is essential to the success of the international anti-globalist movement.
Quadri’s sentiments were echoed by Filip Brusselmans, a Belgian MP for the national-conservative Vlaams Belang, who told The European Conservative: “I was happy to see such a large number of conservatives of different nationalities in one room. It shows there is a wide contingent of patriots across the globe who wish to work together toward a better future.”
Brusselmans, the youngest member of the Flemish parliament, then called on national conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean to “put aside their differences and work together on issues that we all agree on” to mount a united front that can truly oppose the Left, liberalism, and globalism.
In a joint statement that followed the conference’s conclusion, delegates from the participating parties and organizations wrote:
We believe in strong, controlled borders as a means of ensuring our national security, protecting the wages of our workers, and preserving the core of Western cultural values that underpin our nations.
We believe in preserving the national sovereignty of nations from encroachment by supranational or foreign entities and support peace efforts that affirm the independence of the Ukrainian people.
We reject the subversive globalist agenda promoted by the Open Society Foundation and its international NGO network, which collectively seek to undermine our nations, our democratic processes, and our people
We reaffirm our belief that the traditional family unit is an integral pillar of a stable society and must be protected and promoted as an institution to ensure the future of Western Civilization.
In the future, we will strive to cooperate toward these goals where possible.
Impressions
In comments to The European Conservative, Executive Director of Republicans for a National Renewal Mark Ivanyo said:
Budapest is the product and testament of what a true conservative government can accomplish even for a large capitol of a country: it is clean, safe, and has maintained the beauty of its historical architecture.
Hungary is a global leader when it comes to standing up against the united and powerful forces of the Left. Through its policies and commitment to putting the interests of its citizens first, Hungary has demonstrated to the world the epitome of a successful National-Populist government. As such, I can’t think of a better place at the moment to unite conservatives and bring forward the revival of right-wing parties across the world.
Lega Giovani’s International Secretary Davide Quadri called the conference exceptionally “productive,” and praised the event’s organizers for bringing together “such a wide variety of political youth movements from so many different countries.”
