BRUSSELS – Nigel Farage and Zuela Braverman will take center stage at an ultra-conservative conference in Belgium this week, where they are expected to help galvanize European populism ahead of EU elections.

Former Brexit Party leader Mr Farage and former home secretary Ms Braverman gave keynote speeches at the National Conservative Conference (NatCon) on Tuesday and Wednesday, which was also attended by Hungary’s authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and No. French polemicist Eric Zemour of Four. in the 2022 presidential election.

Frank Furedi, executive director of MCC Brussels, a Hungarian think tank that co-organized the event, praised Ms Braverman, saying: “She has been very vocal on issues such as immigration and she has really stood up for promoting Western culture. ​​The forefront of cultural and civilized ideals.

“Farage is there because he’s valuable, he’s a great speaker and he’s charismatic.”

Although Britain is no longer a member of the EU, some British Conservatives are widely admired by some on the European right for pulling Britain out of the bloc and taking a tough stance on uncontrolled immigration.

Ms Braverman, who was sacked by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in November, remains popular among Conservative hardliners.

Mr Farage loudly called for Brexit and hinted at an alliance with the Conservatives during his 20 years as a member of the European Parliament, his spokesman told reporters. I He expects Reform UK’s honorary chairman to urge the populist right to hold on ahead of the European elections, even if their poll numbers are low.

“It was something along the lines of, ‘You may only have 4% right now, but don’t give up – we don’t have that,’” he said.

More than 30 speakers are expected to attend, including nationalist politicians from Belgium’s Vlaams Belang, Spain’s Vox, Poland’s Law and Justice and France’s National Rally. They also include “anti-woke” pollster Matthew Goodwin, right-wing columnist Melanie Phillips, Gloria von Thurn and Taxis, the German aristocratic “punk princess” turned Conservative Catholic activist, and hard-line conservative German Cardinal Gerhard Müller.

Stefan Lane, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Europe think tank, said the meeting could help unite the European Parliament’s Eurosceptic parties, which tend to be “widely divided on issues of current concern, making it difficult to reach a common ground” core standards to truly and effectively coordinate policy.”

“Right-wing parties are currently making headway – not hugely, but certainly with the potential for these parties to reach a position where they can have a decisive influence on European politics. These are spurred to some extent by the prospect of Donald Trump returning as US President. political party.”

The NatCon meeting comes just two weeks before voters in England and Wales go to the polls in local elections and less than two months before European Parliament elections, where right-wing and far-right parties are expected to gain significant support across the EU.

Denis McShane, a former Europe minister in Tony Blair’s government, said the line-up of British speakers showed European populists were working to agree on a common platform.

“There are always disputes between the right, even on issues like the EU,” he said. “Even the stupidest anti-European parties say we cannot leave the EU – and that’s because of the UK example.

“The irony is this: just as the British right is becoming more continental – extreme and ugly towards Muslims – British voters are rejecting them.”

NatCon organizers called the EU a “combination of oligarchy and tyranny of the majority.” Freddy said the aim was to offer an “alternative vision” to the EU.

“We want to show that Europe is not just an institution but a collection of countries with national interests and national cultures.”

NatCon was due to be held at Brussels’ ornate Concert Noble, famous for its balls attended by European aristocrats, but organizers canceled it on Friday after pressure from Belgium’s Coordination Against Fascism (CAB) and the League for Human Rights (LDH) Activity. .

Organizers have now moved the event to the Sofitel hotel, a stone’s throw from the European Parliament building in Brussels, and lambasted the “anti-democratic purveyors of cancel culture” who pressured venues to cancel.

Edificio, the owner of Concert Noble, said its position was “to respect the key values ​​of European democracy that have enabled Belgium and the European Union, with Brussels as its capital, to enjoy the long period of peace and prosperity since the Second World War.”

“The city of Brussels is occupied by forces hostile to free speech and democracy,” Mr Freddy said. “In Brussels, fascists masquerade as anti-fascists and free speech is sacrificed on the altar of intolerance.”