In the week in which Chega’s leader, André Ventura, guaranteed that the party will not enable “any government” in which its proposals “voted upon are not taken into account” in the final solution, the European Union reached a consensus, which was contested in the political extremes, on migration and border control. As France tightens its grip on immigrants by passing new legislation, Chega is reborn in Portugal as a “pure product of ideological import” by advancing “the discourse of refugee immigration and European national preference.”highlights for DN, University of Porto historian Manuel Loff.
“There is no far right that is not racist, there is no far right that is not xenophobic, because it is intrinsic”, the historian insists. “But is all xenophobia and all racism far-right?” asks Manuel Loff rhetorically. “No, but the opposite must be emphasized in the sense that no party should position itself on the extreme right, or what they call radical right, without clearly adopting an attitude of a racist and xenophobic nature.”
The policy of border protection, with all the forms it can take in different political debates, has been present in the positions of several heads of European governments, such as Viktor Órban in Hungary, Giorgia Meloni in Italy and, more recently, Geert Wilders, in the Netherlands .
Speaking to DN, researcher at the Center for International Studies of the University Institute of Lisbon (CEI-IUL) Riccardo Marchi explained that “Chega takes a position that is not particularly original” regarding immigrants. “This is the position of European radical right populist parties, that is to say of the European policy to control Europe’s external borders.” According to Riccardo Marchi, this position of various European parties corresponds to a ‘paradigm change’. “Until now, Europe has discussed a lot about the obligation of each Member State to accept the distribution of migrants. Therefore, each state must take responsibility for receiving part of the migrants who come mainly from the southern border of Europe, in a sense of solidarity with the other Member States, and the radical right has always wanted to change the paradigm,” explains the specialist in radical right-wing movements. “But here we have to talk about policies that block the entry of illegal immigrants into Europe. Therefore, the policy must be one that defends the external borders. And this has always been Chega’s position.”he decides.
French response
With the justification of trying to prevent the rise of the far right in France, French President Emmanuel Macron declared mid-week that the new immigration law, with a restrictive policy on the entry of foreigners, solves the problems fueling right-wing immigration. extremist speeches.. Yet Macron assumed that there is “an immigration problem”, despite the country not being “overwhelmed by immigration”. With this diploma approved, the leader of the far-right Rassemblement National party (National Réunion, in a free translation from French), Marine Le Pen, came to claim an “ideological victory”.
André Ventura met Marine Le Pen in Lisbon in November, as part of a meeting of the European Parliament’s Identity and Democracy group (to which Chega is affiliated). It should be noted that Marine Le Pen distances himself from Ventura regarding sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine. While Le Pen supports Putin, Ventura has been on the side of the Ukrainian position from the start.
Hungarian alarm
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Órban expressed concern mid-week about the “evil affecting Western democracies”, referring to the decision of the Colorado Supreme Court, which ruled that the potential Republican candidate for election campaigns The race for president of the United States, Donald Trump is ineligible due to his involvement in the invasion of the Capitol (seat of the United States Congress) in January 2021.
In May, André Ventura met with Órban and they spoke “about the European elections, the future of the right and the European Union,” the Chega leader wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
I met with the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, this morning and we discussed the European elections, the future of the right and the European Union. We also talked about football, but I can’t reveal that conversation. pic.twitter.com/9NJgroqyOD
– André Ventura (@AndreCVentura) May 5, 2023
The migration pact, signed this week in the European Union, means that the principle of “solidarity and fair sharing of responsibilities between Member States is determined by binding European law,” explained the President of the European Parliamentary Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Business out. Business, Juan Fernando López Aguilar. In response, the Hungarian Foreign Minister stressed the need to “reject this migration pact as firmly as possible.” “No one can decide who enters Hungary, only us,” he concluded, confirming his position in line with other far-right parties in Europe.
Race for votes
“André Ventura is first and foremost an extremely pragmatic politician, who has a very strong desire to come to power”explained to DN Riccardo Marchi, adding that the leader of Chega “He wants to come to power to change things.” “He is not a politician who is happy with a position as leader of the opposition or leader of the masses at protests in Portugal.”he decides.
The urgency that André Ventura has to find a government solution in Portugal is seen by historian Manuel Loff as a need that the leader of Chega has. “justify their voters for the vote they cast”.
Source: DN
