On Sunday morning, Herbert Kickl, the chairman of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ), along with Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán and former Czech PM Andrej Babiš, the chairman of the ANO party, announced that their parties would join forces in an alliance: Patriots for Europe.
At the Vienna press conference, the chairman of the Freedom Party of Austria described the new, patriotic alliance as aimed at “ensuring a better future for Europe.” He went on to say that European public administration must be streamlined and that they were not “passively watching the emergence of a European superstate.” He emphasized “peace, freedom, and prosperity for all citizens of the continent.” Kickl said that other parties are also expected to join this alliance.
PM Viktor Orbán declared, “This is the day European politics will change.” He noted that he has followed political events of the past 25 years:
A new era in European politics began in 1989, which has now ended with the elections. Today, a new faction will be created that will change European politics .… [It] will very quickly become the largest faction of the European Right. It will happen within days.
He went on to say, “European politics must change, as the people have clearly expressed” in the recent European elections. As he noted in his op-ed yesterday, “In 20 of the 27 countries, parties representing change won. The Brussels elite resists this and do not want change. This is unacceptable.” This is why they created this platform, he said, “to bring about change. Europe is in crisis; the threat of terrorism, migration, and war threatens our neighborhood.”
“The European people want peace, order, and prosperity, but from the Brussels elite they get war, migration, and stagnation,” the prime minister said.
Andrej Babiš, the president of the ANO party, highlighted that they decided to found a new political faction that is “determined to stop illegal migration. Regulations must be developed to protect national borders and stop human trafficking.” Their plan is “a Europe that respects nation-states,” the Czech politician concluded.
The Manifesto
A Patriotic Manifesto for a European Future
The Nations of Europe are at a historic juncture. The European Union — once a dream project rooted in a desire for reconciliation after the destruction caused by two world wars and decades of division — has turned against Europeans and now pursues interests contrary to the will of the Nations, Regions and small communities that constitute our European home.
Institutions largely unknown to and removed from European citizens — along with strong globalist forces, unelected bureaucrats, lobbies and interest groups with contempt for the voice of the majority and of popular democracy — are planning to replace the Nations. With what? A European central state.
The elections for the new European Parliament this June were therefore of generational and existential significance. The political fault line today no longer runs between conservatives and liberals or between Right and Left, but between Centralists who herald a new European “superstate”, and Patriots and Sovereigntists who fight to preserve and strengthen the Europe of Nations we cherish. Only through the victory and cooperation of patriotic and sovereigntist parties across the continent we can guarantee our children’s inheritance.
We believe in a Europe
• of strong, proud and independent Nations free in their determination to live and cooperate in concord with each other;
• united through institutions with legitimacy rooted in Nations, mandated by and held accountable to the peoples of Europe;
• sovereign and unwavering in the pursuit of its interests, free from dependencies that obstruct the fulfillment, at home and abroad, of the will of its national communities;
• committed to peace and dialogue, while ready to defend itself against any threat;
• that safeguards and celebrates its European identity, traditions and customs, the fruits of its Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian heritage;
• that cherishes the inherent diversity among its Nations, their history and way of life, while resisting ultimatums to change according to the fashion of the day;
• that champions real freedoms, fundamental rights and human dignity, while fiercely resisting attempts to limit or redefine these freedoms;
• competitive, productive, efficient and proud of its intellectual, scientific and economic feats as a continent of innovation, excellence and progress;
• determined to protect its borders, to stop illegal migration and to preserve its cultural identity, following the will of the vast majority of European citizens;
• of Nations ready to protect their people against any and all potential threats coming from the political, economic, religious and cultural spheres;
• that respects its own mandate and rules, does not act beyond its competencies, abides by the principle of subsidiarity and proportionality and ceases to justify its attacks on national sovereignty by applying pressure through the European budget;
• of Nations that refuses all further transfers of national sovereignty to the European institutions;
• that respects the veto right of Nations;
• that recognizes diplomacy as a fundamental element of the sovereignty of Member States, and as a matter for each Nation to decide upon freely without committing others to the same course of action.
We, the patriotic forces of Europe, pledge to return the future of our continent to the European people by retaking our institutions and reorienting European policy to serve our Nations and our people. To prioritize sovereignty over federalism, freedom over diktats, and peace: this is the Manifesto of Patriots for Europe.
