Far-right Party Leaders Meet In Prague Ahead Of EU Vote

Prague, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Apr, 2019 ) :Prague will on Thursday host a meeting of populist far-right party leaders seeking unprecedented success in European elections next month following a steep rise of anti-EU movements across Europe.

France's National Rally head Marine Le Pen and Dutch Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders are among the speakers, while Italian League leader and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini will send a video message.

A Czech far-right band will open the event at Prague's central Wenceslas Square, hosted by Czech lawmaker Tomio Okamura, who is head of the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party.

"On Thursday, the SPD will officially launch the EU election campaign. We want to show that we're not alone," Okamura told AFP.

"Polls have shown our Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) faction led by Matteo Salvini, Marine Le Pen, Austria's Freedom Party and others has a chance to form one of the strongest groups in the European Parliament," he said.

"This would enable us to implement fundamental changes aimed at ensuring the freedom and sovereignty of individual European states without orders from Brussels." Parties in the faction, including Alternative for Germany (AfD) or Denmark's People's Party, share anti-migrant policies, promote national sovereignty and individual freedoms.

The SPD, which has never taken part in EU elections and has thus no deputies in Strasbourg, favours a "Czexit" from the EU, just like Wilders's PVV promotes a "Nexit".

The anti-system parties got their last boost a week ago when the Finns Party came a narrow second in a general election in Finland.