Marine Le Pen and Viktor Orban Form New Far-Right Alliance in European Parliament

Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National party has formed a new bloc, Patriots for Europe, which will be the third-largest alliance in the European Parliament. The party joined forces with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on July 8, marking a significant consolidation of far-right power within the Strasbourg chamber. Despite not experiencing a "tidal wave" of support in the June 9 elections, Le Pen's party made strong gains in France, the Netherlands, and Germany. In contrast to earlier expectations, Marine Le Pen's National Rally did not win the most seats in the French parliamentary elections on Sunday, instead coming in third place. The left-wing alliance Nouveau Front Populaire topped the polls but failed to secure an overall majority. Jordan Bardella is now the president of the new Patriots for Europe group. The formation of this new bloc poses a challenge to the centre-right European People's Party and marks a significant shift towards the far-right in European politics.