By: V4 Agency
The European Union is under threat from external and internal attacks, European conservative party leaders said in a joint statement issued at the end of their two-day summit in Madrid on Saturday.
The summit under the motto Defend Europe gathered the representatives of 15 political parties from 12 countries. Among others, the event was attended by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki, as well as Marine Le Pen, presidential candidate of the French National Rally. The conference was hosted by Santiago Abascal, leader of the Spanish conservative, right-wing Vox party.
The joint statement issued at the end of the meeting recalls that in July 2021, several political parties in the European Parliament (EP) signed a joint resolution expressing their concern about the future of the European Union (EU) and their commitment to defend the sovereignty, freedom and traditions of EU member states. Signatories of the Madrid declaration reiterated their concerns about internal and external attacks on the European Union. According to the declaration, there is a growing threat to turn the European Union into an “ideologically over-stretched federal super state” imposed above member states. According to the signatories, this threatens the European Union itself, as it moves away from the Christian values on which the Union was originally founded.
The declaration states that the participating signatories are committed to defending Europe against external and internal threats. They underlined that they will support the protection of borders and family policy and oppose political trends alien to European history that lead to “demographic suicide”.
The signatories of the declaration explicitly condemned what they saw as politically motivated attacks by Brussels against Poland and Hungary. These attacks show a complete disregard for fundamental EU principles.
The signatories also agreed on concrete steps: to support the respect and enforcement of the principle of EU preference for products made in the European Union; to condemn Brussels’ immigration policy; and to increase Europe’s energy capacity and self-sufficiency. They called for joint action against external threats facing the EU, with a focus on Russian military buildup threatening Europe’s eastern border and the threat posed by migrants arriving from third countries.
The participating political parties decided to set up a coordination office, which will allow for stronger cooperation.
PM Orban: Peaceful solution needed
On the Saturday of the summit, Hungarian Prime Minister Orban Viktor called for the de-escalation of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, stressing the need for a peaceful solution. He also highlighted that Brussels’s climate policy has failed, adding that increasing energy prices to protect the climate proved “unreasonable”. He emphasized that Hungary refuses to adopt this policy and plans from Brussels to impose new taxes on car and home owners must be thwarted.