Rally organized by the Patriots for Europe group, titled "Without Fear: In Europe We Are Masters in Our Own House," in Milan, Italy, April 18, 2026. PIERO CRUCIATTI/AFP
At 3 pm on Saturday, April 18, three distinct groups of foreigners converged on Milan's Cathedral Square. Tourists, numerous on this beautiful spring day, had come to admire the city's iconic cathedral. Immigrant workers took advantage of their day off to visit the city center. And behind the scenes of a stage set up to the right of the Duomo, six representatives from far-right parties in Greece, Austria, Latvia, and Flanders waited patiently, less than a week after the electoral defeat of their fallen ally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Their ranks included Jordan Bardella, president of the French Rassemblement National (RN) party, and Dutch populist leader Geert Wilders, who lost the October 2025 elections. Both had responded to the invitation of their Italian ally, Matteo Salvini, deputy prime minister and leader of The League, to take part in a European far-right gathering dubbed "Without Fear: In Europe We Are Masters in Our Own House."
Orban was invited, but did not attend. The event was organized by the European parliamentary group he inspired, Patriots for Europe, and could have been an occasion to celebrate his victory. Instead, it was overshadowed by the need to avoid discussing his defeat or the embarrassment caused by Donald Trump to this political movement, which previously aligned itself with the US president after his return to the Oval Office.
