Francesco Giubilei is an Italian publisher, columnist, and writer, and chairman of the conservative think tank Nazione Futura. In an interview for The European Conservative, he talks about the negative impact that the Ursula von der Leyen-led European Commission has had on Europe in the last five years, and how the many crises the EU finds itself in can be attributed to the relinquishing of our traditional values. However, the successes of conservative parties in Hungary and Italy, as well as a projected right-wing breakthrough in the European elections, are signs of hope, he says.
How would you evaluate the achievements of the European Commission, led in the past five years by Ursula von der Leyen?
Negatively, in several respects. First of all, the EU has failed in the main policy areas, from immigration to foreign policy. Secondly, in the last five years we have witnessed an acceleration in the strive towards political correctness—from gender ideology to the suppression of freedom of speech—which, combined with a dirigiste approach in every sphere, particularly on environmental issues, has led to the creation of a superstate that wants to tell citizens how to live, what they should eat, what car they should buy, how they should speak. Faced with this situation, calling for ‘more Europe’ or invoking the ‘United States of Europe’ means making the situation even worse. That is why we need to rethink the current model of Europe by building a Europe of nations by adopting the values outlined in the Paris Statement, ‘A Europe we can believe in.’
What is the biggest threat to the EU today? The green agenda, illegal immigration, federalist plans to strip EU member states of their sovereignty?
All of these issues represent a danger to Europe. Each taken individually is a risk in its own way, but it is the combination of the green agenda, illegal immigration, dirigisme, genderism, and the attack on our national sovereignty that gives us a European Union that is increasingly out of touch with the needs of its citizens and increasingly tied to the demands of the Brussels establishment. Yet, in order to understand the causes of the political, economic, migratory, and social crises gripping Europe, it is necessary to act not only on the consequences but also on the causes. The main cause is the crisis of values and culture that grips the entire West and Europe in particular. A crisis that Benedict XVI denounces in his book ‘The True Europe’ in which he points the finger at growing secularisation. Augusto Del Noce, the leading Catholic philosopher of the 20th century, denounced the consequences of 1968 on our society, consequences that question the institution of the family, the concept of merit and hierarchy.
How have the conservative governments of Giorgia Meloni, Viktor Orbán, and Mateusz Morawiecki impacted politics in Europe?
Morawiecki’s defeat in Poland, as well as the inability in Spain to form a VOX-People’s Party government, represented a blow to the idea of achieving a conservative Europe. The Italian and Hungarian governments, however, represent hope, as do the European elections. While we are witnessing an increasingly evident secularisation and multiculturalism in northern European countries, while abortion is included in the Constitution of France, and increasingly radical measures are approved in Spain, at the same, time Italy and Hungary are pushing back against these ‘values’ that are unfortunately becoming increasingly widespread in the West. We will also see what happens in November with the elections in the United States, whose outcome will impact European politics as well.
How would a Trump presidency change the relationship between the U.S. and Europe?
Donald Trump’s foreign policy during his term as president was very successful. He understood the danger imposed by China by implementing containment measures. In the Middle East, with the Abraham Accords, he fostered rapprochement between Israel and the Arab world. He designated the Houthi movement as a terrorist organisation, and during his presidency, there were no wars. I do not know if, as he claims, there would not have been a war in Ukraine had he been the president, but Russia and China would certainly have been more afraid of the United States.
Is the EU strong enough to defend itself against the societal, military, and economic effects of geopolitical conflicts, the war in Ukraine, the war in the Middle East?
There is much discussion about the possibility of a common European army as a defence tool, and to give the EU more weight in international scenarios, especially in war, but what do we do with a European army if we do not have a common foreign policy? How do we use this army if French, German, Italian—not to mention all other European nations’ interests—do not coincide? The truth is that today, the EU is not a relevant diplomatic actor and on all the major occasions when it has been called upon to make its voice heard, it has failed to do so.
What is driving the rise of conservative, right-wing parties in Europe?
In the West, we have lost the concept of common sense. Between political correctness, cancel culture, and wokeism we are witnessing a restriction of the freedom of speech, and at the same time an attempt not only to change our history but also to erase the past. Thus, our national and European identity is being called into question, an identity that the conservative parties want to defend. This does not mean being hostile to innovation, but it means looking to the future while preserving traditions and customs that are in danger of being lost.
Is there a chance for conservative forces to come together, to cooperate more closely after the European elections?
There are two levels: one is cultural, the other is political. From a cultural point of view, a lot has been done in recent years: magazines such as The European Conservative, groups such as the Vanenburg, initiatives such as the Working Group on Conservatism, the numerous projects born in Hungary have helped to create a network among European conservatives. Politically, the priority is to change the current majority in Brussels and to prevent the socialists from continuing to be major decision-makers in EU institutions.
What topics will define the outcome of the European Parliament elections in Italy?
The main topics of the Italian election campaign for the European elections will be the economy, immigration, the environment, and foreign policy. However, the European elections will be interpreted mainly in the national context as a vote for or against the Meloni government. This is unfortunately a problem that often happens in Italy where international situations are viewed as nationally significant without devoting the necessary attention to the international consequences of the European vote. In Italy, we will vote in a proportional system, therefore without coalitions, but the challenge will be to understand the results of the individual parties and whether the amount of votes given to Fratelli d’Italia, Lega, and Forza Italia will be greater than those of the Democratic Party, the Five Star Movement, and the Left.
Despite campaigning for an end to illegal migration, the Italian conservative government faces an ever-growing number of migrants coming to Italy. What can be done to stop them?
The only way to stop irregular migration is to stop departures from North Africa. The solution is not the redistribution of migrants, moving irregular migrants from Italy to the rest of Europe. They must be prevented from entering a European country, this is the only way to solve the problem. Some time ago I interviewed Tony Abbott, the former Australian prime minister who created the ‘No Way’ project. I believe that applying the Australian model to the Mediterranean (albeit with differences) is the way forward: establishing hotspots in North African countries, and using the navy to rescue migrants at sea and bringing them back to Africa. That would hit human traffickers hard.
In the past few months, Italian farmers have been protesting beside farmers from all around Europe against national and EU regulations that are destroying their livelihoods. Will the farmers’ revolt have any consequences on Europe with regard to national and EU green regulations?
The farmers’ protests are rightful protests and have to be supported. I was struck by a sign displayed by a farmer at a protest in Italy: “we are not polluters but producers of food.” The mere fact that those who, through very hard work, put food on our table, have to justify themselves because they are accused of polluting, speaks volumes about the level ecological absurdities have reached. Yet, it is clear that all this is politically designed because while farmers are being blamed and attacked, the spread of synthetic food is being encouraged. Today we have arrived at a contradiction: we want to hit European farmers while importing fruit and vegetables from North Africa without knowing what we are eating, without the same standards of food control, and at the same time destroying the European agricultural supply chain.
