Patriots for Europe Rally in Portugal to Unveil New Leadership After Orbán's Defeat

Europe's far-right Patriots for Europe gathered in Portugal this week to project strength after Viktor Orbán's election defeat in Hungary and to double down on their call for tougher migration policies. Orbán had been widely seen as the group's founding force, but following his ouster from government, attention is shifting to a new duo: France's Jordan Bardella and Portugal's André Ventura. Both used this week's event to declare their political "friendship" and shared mission as the foremost representatives of Europe's far right. "We speak the same language — the language of patriotism, the sovereignty of Europe and the sovereignty of nations," said Ventura, whose ultranationalist Chega party is now the third-largest in Portugal's parliament. He described Bardella, who leads the surging National Rally, as the "most likely be the next president of the French Republic." Rather than question the outcome of Hungary's pivotal April 12 election, the politicians both accepted and downplayed Orbán's defeat. "Democracy worked very well in Hungary," Bardella said, waving away allegations by independent journalists of vote-buying during the election campaign. Instead of dwelling on the latest developments in Budapest, the pair took aim at Madrid and at Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's move earlier this month to grant legal status to half a million unauthorized immigrants. Ventura accused the center-left premier of "putting the whole of Europe at risk," and said the bloc needed to "demand responsibility." Bardella went further, calling Spain "a gateway for immigration into Europe" and vowing to tighten borders. "We will restore internal border control … and reserve free movement for EU nationals," he said, framing the restrictive policy as a "defense of identity." Both also slammed officials in Brussels for the EU Green Deal, which the Patriots want dismantled. Bardella said the European Commission's policies were a "catastrophe," while Ventura warned "green pacts have destroyed agriculture and the rural world." In a declaration issued during the summit, the group called for the energy policies of member countries to be fully controlled by the capitals, rejecting "dogmatic" measures imposed by Brussels. Bardella is widely expected to run in France's 2027 presidential election. Ventura, for his part, made it to the second round of this year's presidential elections in Portugal. Current polls suggest his Chega party is backed by one in five voters.