Vistisen exclusively told Euronews that there is “no political rift” between Meloni and Le Pen’s political factions, any more than there is within other mainstream political groups.
The man who led the far-right Identity and Democracy party’s European election campaign is convinced that the two most right-wing factions in the European Parliament will form a united force in the next parliament.
Anders Fistisen told Euronews in an interview on Tuesday that he doesn’t see a big political rift between his Identity and Democracy (ID) party, which also includes Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, Italy’s League and Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD), and the nationalist European Reform Conservatives (ECR), which is considered slightly more moderate than the ID party.
The ECR includes Spain’s Vox and Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS), as well as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s Civic Democratic Party (ODS), which were controversially pitched as possible partners to Chancellor Ursula von der Leyen’s center-right European People’s Party after June’s elections, signaling the dismantling of the firewall that has traditionally kept out far-right parties.
“In my opinion it’s wrong to have two groups on the right. I think it has more to do with the presence of influential people from the big parties than with political differences,” Vistisen, from the far-right Danish People’s Party, told Euronews.
“There is no political division between ID and ECR, as there is within the EPP, S&D and Renew parties, for example.”
Asked whether he thought the two groups could form a united bloc in the European Parliament, Vistisen replied: “I think that will happen at some point… Maybe not after these elections, but I think the French presidential elections in a few years’ time (2027) will be a very exciting time.”
Vistisen was speaking just hours before Marine Le Pen’s National Rally announced that it would no longer sit with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) candidate Maximilian Kler in the European Parliament over his anti-Nazi comments, leading to Kler’s abrupt resignation from the party’s federal executive.
After speaking to Euronews, Vistisen said on social media platform X that Kula, who will remain the AfD’s leading candidate in June’s elections, “has shown with his words and actions that he does not belong to the ID group.”
“If the AfD does not take advantage of the situation and remove Mr Kula, the DF’s (Danish People’s Party) position is that the AfD must leave the ID group,” Vistisen added.
But when asked by Euronews a few hours earlier whether deep divisions within the ID party and growing dissatisfaction with the AfD’s increasingly radical stance could prompt member parties to ask to move to the ECR grouping, Vistisen defended the party’s unity.
“No, I don’t think so. I think that’s a bit of a misconception that’s been spread,” he said.
Vistisen argues that there are deeper divisions within the competing far-right ECR groupings, particularly on the Ukraine issue, adding that Poland’s PiS, a staunch supporter of unhindered EU support for Ukraine, has welcomed both the National Rally and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán into its European party ranks, despite being skeptical of military support for Ukraine.
A source in the National Coalition told Euronews that Le Pen’s party wants to join the same group as Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party, which is currently not part of any European political grouping after being forced to leave the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) in 2021.
Visit fee ‘not paid’ due to sanctioned European voices
The latest incident follows several controversies surrounding the AfD that have caused ripples within the party. In January, AfD leaders were reported to have met with neo-Nazi groups to discuss plans to deport millions of immigrants, including German nationals, sparking anger among fellow Europeans, according to Euronews sources.
The pair, who top the AfD’s candidate list for June’s elections, are also tied to an ongoing investigation into foreign interference in the European Parliament, including the activities of pro-Russian groups who are alleged to have paid sitting MEPs to spread Russian propaganda.
An aide to Maximilian Kula was arrested last month on suspicion of espionage for China, while Petr Bystrom is accused of accepting 20,000 euros in cash from Russia as part of a wider investigation into alleged pro-Russian influence operations.
Vistisen acknowledged that “we are always concerned about external influence” and vowed that his European Union department would tackle the issue itself if investigations found the candidates guilty and the AfD was unable to suspend their membership.
But he defended the decision not to take immediate action against damaging allegations of foreign interference in his party.
“Mr Klar was investigated by the European Parliament’s Ethics Committee, which did not recommend any applicable sanctions,” Vistisen argued.
“It is therefore very difficult for us as a political organisation to impose sanctions in this context, if his political opponents had not recommended them. But I am very happy that if these allegations are true, the AfD has already stipulated that it will unilaterally suspend his AfD membership and therefore that he will no longer be a member of the ID group.”
The investigation, led by Belgian prosecutors, centres on Voice of Europe, a company currently blacklisted by the European Union.
Asked whether he had received payment in a separate interview with Voice of Europe earlier this year, Vistisen categorically denied it.
“No, of course not. That interview was set up with the same premise as this one. I was asked to be interviewed and I agreed. That’s my job as a politician,” Vistisen replied.
“I have an impeccable track record when it comes to taking firm stances against Russia and China. Who has ever doubted that? So, of course, these allegations can be politicized… I think you can easily get your point across without spreading fake news.”
Lack of EU support means Ukraine loses ‘fighting chance’
Vistisen also sharply criticized the European Union for “not fulfilling its responsibilities” in providing Kiev with military aid and equipment needed to counter Russian aggression.
“I would like to challenge the perception that Europe has been very pro-Ukrainian so far,” he explained.
“When it comes to concrete actions, the US is lagging behind. So if the US had not joined in to help Ukraine, it would have lost the war because Europe did not fulfill its responsibilities,” he added.
“If Ukraine had a fighting chance to push Russia back across its borders before Russia invaded Crimea, I’m afraid the military help has been too little, too late.”
He also claimed that the EU has pledged less military aid to Ukraine than the UK, even though EU military aid to Ukraine is a staggering 33 billion euros, compared with UK military aid of £7.6 billion (8.9 billion euros).
Still, he ruled out Ukraine joining the EU as a full member state, claiming that EU leaders were trying to set a deadline to speed up Kyiv’s accession.
“The same forces that are complaining about the rule of law in Hungary are now saying we should speed up the process of admitting countries that have a much worse track record on many standards than we have seen in Orbán’s Hungary,” Vistisen argued.
