NAN-F-50
Summit
Mainz (Germany), (dpa/NAN) Leading right-wing populists from across Europe are to convene in the German city of Koblenz on Jan. 21 for an anti-establishment summit, their European Parliament faction said on Wednesday.
Some of the people who are expected are Marine Le Pen of France’s National Front and Frauke Petry of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), among others.
Geert Wilders, a Dutch politician whose anti-Islam and anti-foreigner politics have landed him in court will speak.
Matteo Salvini of Italy’s far-right Lega Nord is also scheduled to speak at the event, according to the Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) parliamentary group.
Ludovic de Danne, an advisor to Petry, was quoted by Paris newspaper Le Figaro as describing the meeting as a “European counter-summit”.
It will mark Petry’s first meeting with National Front head Le Pen, with both women expected to discuss the overlap in their parties’ policies, de Danne said, according to the report.
It said that Petry’s attendance has, however, been criticised by influential members of her own party.
General elections are looming this year in Germany and the Netherlands, while Le Pen is vying for top office in France’s upcoming presidential elections. (Reuters/NAN)
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Grace Yussuf