Author: Janosz Malterik and Nick Lowles | Date: December 2009

BNP joins European far-right grouping

The British National Party formally joined a new far-right bloc in the European Parliament last month but the group’s composition is some way short of what is required to receive public funding.

The Alliance of European National Movements brings together three of the most hardline racist and fascist groups in the European Parliament. As well as the BNP’s two MEPs, it includes the three MEPs from Hungary’s fascist Jobbik party and the three French National Front MEPs.

Other supporting organisations are Italy’s Fiamma Tricolore, the Belgian National Front and the Swedish National Democrats, none of which have MEPs.

The Alliance was formed in Budapest on 24 October and announced at a press conference held by Jobbik. The BNP joined on 12 November. Its political declaration was drafted by Nick Griffin, the BNP leader, and signed by representatives of the other supporting organisations.

Zoltán Balczó MEP, Jobbik’s vice-president, told the press conference that the alliance would “be registered as an official ‘European National Party’ in Strasbourg or in Brussels”. The BNP, Balczó added, would soon join the group, together with Spanish and Portuguese parties and the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ).

The Budapest agreement includes a demand for a Europe of “free, independent and equal nations” and rejects any attempt to create a “centralist European Super State”. The signatories claim they want to protect Europe not only against terrorism but also against “religious, political, economic or financial imperialism” and against “the destructive effects of globalisation”.

The date of the conference was chosen to mark the anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising, which began on 23 October. The date is now a national holiday which has been used in recent years by right-wing nationalists and fascist extremists to whip up hatred against “‘Jewified’ socialists, liberals and liberal intellectuals”.

The Alliance will not receive public money anytime soon. The Alliance, which has the support of only eight MEPs from three countries, falls well short of the 25 MEPs from seven countries required to form an official political group of the European Parliament.

The Alliance has said it intends to form a pan-European political party, informally known as a europarty. The rules for europarties are more relaxed. There is no minimum number of MEPs and national MPs and regional representatives may also count towards the seven country minimum. Europarties can benefit from funding, but the cut-off date to apply for funding for 2010 was 1 November. If the European Parliament does eventually recognise the party, it may benefit from funding from 2011.

Griffin told journalists, “We missed the deadline this year but still intend to form a Europe-wide alliance of like-minded parties. We have support from six member states, which is still one short of the number required, but there is nothing to stop us still establishing a party.

“The party can still make an impact even if we will not benefit from EU funding.”

While far-right parties from Austria, Spain and Portugal have expressed an interest in joining, it is still difficult to see how the Alliance will reach the 25 MEPs that would entitle it to significant additional funding and increased influence in Parliament.

Several larger right-wing parties, such as the Belgian Vlaam Belang, the Italian Northern League and the Dutch Freedom Party all moved quickly to distance themselves from any political alliance with the far right.

Even if more parties could be brought into the Alliance there is no evidence that the bond will stick. In 2007 far-right MEPs formed a group under the title Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty. However, it soon fell apart after the Italian MEP Alessandra Mussolini made disparaging remarks about the Romanians, which resulted in them walking out of the group.

Even within the Alliance of European National Movements there is potential for friction. The FPÖ, led by Heinz Christian Strache, officially has no contact with Jobbik and its fascist allies but Andreas Mölzer, one of the party’s two MEPs, was invited to the Budapest conference. Although he failed to attend because of “illness”, Mölzer stated in an interview with the Hungarian extreme-right internet newspaper Barikád.hu that his party’s co-operation with Jobbik is conceivable because “both share similar values”, which probably include hostility to Slovak and Romanian fascists.

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