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Conservatives explore alternative paths for EU at Madrid talks: Polish PM

29.01.2022 20:00
Conservative and rightist leaders from across Europe explored alternative paths for the 27-nation European Union during a gathering in Madrid, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said after the talks on Saturday.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (centre) talks to the media next to Spains far-right leader Santiago Abascal (left) in Madrid on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (centre) talks to the media next to Spain's far-right leader Santiago Abascal (left) in Madrid on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022.Photo: EPA/VICTOR LERENA

Morawiecki told reporters that the meeting, hosted by the leader of Spain’s rightist Vox party, Santiago Abascal, focused on "ways of strengthening cooperation and efforts to create a single strong group within the European Parliament."

He said: "The most important thing is for us to be united in our values; organizational changes will follow."

Morawiecki added: "Our most important, first goal is to draw up an appropriate document to outline an alternative to the future of Europe. I hope we are the alternative to the future of Europe."

The meeting, held under the motto “Defending Europe,” was attended by politicians including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, in addition to conservative and rightist leaders from Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria and Lithuania, Poland's PAP news agency reported.

Summit participants also discussed Russia's military buildup near Ukraine, with "European right-wing parties agreeing that Russia poses a threat to the territorial integrity of Ukraine," Morawiecki said.

"We covered this topic extensively, and I am very grateful to our friends all over Europe who are aware of these dangers and these risks," he added, as quoted by the PAP news agency. 

Other topics included defence cooperation and ways of counteracting depopulation and protecting the energy sovereignty of European countries, according to officials.

'Alternative future for Europe'

"We have shown that there is an alternative future for Europe, that there is a future based on sovereign states, not on a centralized structure that takes away powers from member states," Morawiecki said.

Morawiecki also told the media that meeting participants discussed the European Union’s wide-ranging “Fit for 55" climate and energy package.

He said: "We discussed the very high energy prices caused by such policies. We also talked about gas price manipulation. That was one of our topics. We talked about how harmful it is to industry in Europe."

Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller said earlier this month that Warsaw was building a coalition of countries to resist parts of the “Fit for 55" package.

In early December, the leaders of 13 conservative and right-wing parties from across Europe met in Warsaw to discuss ways of reforming the EU and resist attempts to turn it into a super-state, reporters were told at the time.

That meeting, hosted by Jarosław Kaczyński, head of Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, aimed to explore possible team-ups at the EU level, including an alliance within the European Parliament, according to officials.

(gs)

Source: PAP