Danish People’s Party (DF) has changed groups in the EU Parliament and is now part of the newly formed group “European Patriots”. The group was founded six days ago and has, among others, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as one of its founders. In addition to Orbán, the Austrian Freedom Party (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs) and the Czech ANO are also co-founders of the new group.
The switch marks a break with DF’s previous affiliation with Identity and Democracy (ID), a group that DF itself helped to establish. According to Anders Vistisen, DF’s member of the EU Parliament, the decision to switch groups is not an endorsement of Orbán’s policies, which have often been criticized for being friendly towards Russia. This criticism was recently highlighted when Orbán visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week.
Vistisen emphasizes that the new group respects national differences in foreign policy, which means that Orbán will not be able to dictate Danish foreign policy, just as DF will not dictate Hungarian policy. When the group was announced, the three founders highlighted the fight against illegal immigration as a central issue. Their goal is also to shift power from the EU back to the member states.
With the change, Anders Vistisen expects that more current members of ID will follow DF’s example and join European Patriots. In order for a group to be officially recognized in the EU Parliament, parties from at least a quarter of the EU’s 27 member states must be part of the group.
Danish People’s Party’s decision to join European Patriots thus marks a new chapter in the party’s engagement in the EU Parliament.