By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – One of Europe’s most prominent anti-Islam politicians was on his way to Budapest to address the world’s largest conservative radical right gathering where like-minded leaders seek to chase out “the liberal order” in upcoming elections.
Geert Wilders of the Dutch Party for Freedom, or PVV, arrives in the Hungarian capital for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) amid concerns that growing migration from Islamic nations contributed to rising antisemitism in his native Netherlands.
His ally and friend, Hungarian nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, shares Wilders views. “He was among the first to congratulate me when I won the recent Dutch elections,” Wilders said in an interview.
Ahead of his arrival, Orbán opened the two-day gathering on Thursday in a speech that stressed the need for right-wing forces to end the world’s “liberal order” and defeat the “progressive world spirit.”
Speaking to an enthusiastic crowd, Orbán urged his audience to support former U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s reelection bid, saying: “Let’s make America Great again, Let’s make Europe great again.”
Orbán suggested that the multiple court cases faced by Trump on allegations such as financial wrongdoing and obstruction of justice were political trials. “If necessary, they will use government agencies against us — as my American friends say, ‘weaponizing state institutions,’” Orbán said. “This happens to us Hungarians constantly in Brussels. This is what is happening to President Trump in America, and we encourage him to fight for his own truth not only in the elections but also in the courts.”
He added: “Go Donald Trump, go European sovereigntists! Let’s saddle up, put on our armor, head to the battlefield, and begin the election battle!”
EU, US ELECTIONS
European Union elections in June and U.S. presidential elections in November, Orbán said, could launch a new “era of sovereignty” modeled on Hungary, which he claimed was a “conservative island.”
“These elections coincide with major shifts in world political and geopolitical trends,” Orbán stressed. “The order of the world is changing, and we must usher our cause to triumph in the midst of these changes. Progressive liberals feel the danger. Replacing this era means replacing them.”
Yet CPAC was also seen as a welcome distraction from his political troubles following several scandals.
In recent months, several senior officials, including the president and justice minister, were forced to resign over a scandal involving a presidential pardon to a man implicated in a child sexual abuse case at an orphanage.
Additionally, more details emerged about corruption following a leaked recording suggesting government officials encourage removing files in corruption cases.
Emerging from the scandals was political newcomer Péter Magyar, a former insider within Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party who shot to prominence through his allegations of massive corruption and cronyism among the country’s leaders.
Magyar this month mobilized about 100,000 anti-Orbán demonstrators in central Budapest, according to Worthy News estimates, and he announced a new party that will participate in EU elections.
CRACKDOWN CRITICIZED
Orbán, Europe’s longest reigning leader, had brushed aside allegations of corruption, rule-of-law concerns, and a perceived crackdown on critical media.
He has been angered over the decision by Brussels to postpone billions of euros (dollars) in EU funding over these issues.
Orbán said his government had been punished over its decision to stand up against LGBTQ+ “propaganda,” its decision to defend traditional family and Christian values and anti-migration policies. Hungary’s refusal to send weapons to Ukraine but instead push for peace talks also created tensions with the West.
Orbán spoke at the third Hungarian iteration of CPAC, an event that this year features numerous radical rights figures, including U.S. media personality Jack Posobiec, Republican Paul Gosar of Arizona, and Wilders.
Another speaker of the rightwing nationalist Vlaams Belang or ‘Flemish Interest’ party, legislator Tom Van Grieken, agreed with Orbán’s assessment. Van Grieken said conservatives will unite in the interest of Europe today.
He joked that although being a politician from Brussels, he “won’t ban CPAC,” referring to a similar conference in the Belgian capital, which was briefly broken up by police last week.
Organizers declared CPAC a “no woke zone” where critical journalists, including from Worthy News, aren’t welcome.
Coverage would be possible at “future events when and if your organization becomes significantly less woke,” journalists were told.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.