MADRID (AP) 鈥 Europe's far-right leaders applauded U.S. President Donald Trump's agenda and spoke of the turning point it presented Europe at an event Saturday organized by Spain鈥檚 Vox party in Madrid under the banner "Make Europe Great Again.鈥
Those gathered included Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Italy's Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini, French 好色tv Rally party leader Marine Le Pen and others.
Salvini and Vox president Santiago Abascal downplayed on European imports, saying that the European Union鈥檚 taxes and regulations are a bigger danger to Europe's prosperity.
鈥淭he great tariff is the Green Deal and the confiscatory taxes of Brussels and socialist governments across Europe,鈥 said Abascal.
Salvini referenced the 鈥渉istoric opportunity鈥 ahead of Germany's Feb. 23 election, in which the , behind center-right opposition leader Friedrich Merz鈥檚 Union bloc.
鈥淭he engine of Europe has come to a halt in the face of the most disastrous government of the post-war period," Salvini said of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government.
The defense of Europe's borders against illegal immigration was another topic touched on by every speaker at the two-day event, even though in 2024, according to data collected by the bloc鈥檚 border control agency Frontex.
Le Pen said that Trump's election triumph put Europe before a 鈥渞eal change,鈥 and said that the EU had left the continent at the margins of ongoing technological revolutions in artificial intelligence and other realms.
She also said that it was the European leaders present at the gathering, whose Patriots for Europe group has 84 seats in the European Parliament, who had the best chance of communicating and working with Trump.
鈥淲e are the only ones that can talk with the new Trump administration,鈥 Le Pen said.
