This article was published online by Valeurs Actuelles on 9 February 2022.
The most important conservative parties in Europe have just reached an agreement which may soon lead to a political alliance within the European Parliament. But can this principled opposition go as far as the fundamental reform that the European institutions so need? This is the question asked by David Engels, professor at the Free University of Brussels and at the Instytut Zachodni in Poznań, and Krzysztof Tyszka-Drozdowski, an analyst in a Polish government agency dealing with industrial policy.
Europe's most important conservative parties have finally reached a principle agreement about their values and future collaboration – an agreement which may soon manifest itself in the form of a political alliance in the European Parliament. Certainly, this alliance could become one of the strongest formations of this assembly; nevertheless, given the current political configuration, there is little hope of breaking the “cordon sanitaire” and moving from a principled opposition to the fundamental reform that European institutions on the loose so desperately need.
Undoubtedly, Poland and Hungary show day by day the successes that a patriotic and conservative government can achieve, but the pressure to which they are subjected is such that their influence on the evolution of Europe remains limited. On the other hand, an electoral victory of the RN (or of Éric Zemmour’s movement in France) or of the two conservative parties in Italy could have an effect comparable to an avalanche. Of course, just as it once did in the United States after Donald Trump’s election, the deep state and self-righteous elites will do all they can to sabotage such a government Especially in France, where it will be difficult to bring about change without parliamentary majority. Nevertheless, the disruption caused to the globalist order would be considerable, especially if it were part of the logic of close collaboration with other conservative parties and governments in Europe.
In France, this would above all mean turning to Poland – at long last, one would be tempted to say, because the relative disinterest of the conservative elites towards the current Polish government is a major tactical error. What could be the issues and prospects of such a potential cooperation between the Polish PiS and the French patriotic right, especially in view of the current duplication of the latter's presidential candidates and the ideological uncertainty that is taking hold there?
Internal evolution
European conservatives have been so divided in the past that it seems relevant to ask whether the very term "conservative" still has any meaning. Sovereignism against Westernism, Russophilia against Atlanticism, Christianity against secularism, liberalism against Christian-socialism – conservatism is a distinct universe with often deeper internal divisions than better known and largely feigned ones, between the “left” and the well-meaning “right”. Will it be possible to overcome these historical divisions, often exacerbated by old historical grudges between factions, parties and states? Yes, but there is a price to pay: burying a series of resentments (and hopes) in order to focus all the energy on the crucial points leading to political victory.
