French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, and her Italian ally, Matteo Salvini, are both joining their parties’ European lawmakers into the eurosceptic Patriots for Europe bloc led by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The accessions are set to make the group the third-largest political family in the European Parliament, eclipsing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s European Conservatives and Reformists.
Zoltan Kovacs, a spokesman for Orban, announced that Le Pen, and the 30 European lawmakers of her National Rally, are joining Orban’s family on X, the social media platform. “Let’s join forces and fight together for a better future,” he said in his post, though Le Pen had yet to officially announce her decision.
Kovac’s social media post came shortly after Salvini confirmed that the eight European lawmakers from his far-right League were joining the Patriots group later today to “change Europe.”
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