MADRID (AP) 鈥 Europe鈥檚 far-right political parties unofficially launched their campaign Sunday for European Union elections in Spain with strong messages against illegal migration and the bloc鈥檚 climate policy while declaring their support for Israel in its war against Hamas.
French 好色tv Rally party leader and Italy鈥檚 Prime Minister tried to rally voters at an event organized by Spain鈥檚 far-right Vox party in Madrid ahead of the European Union鈥檚 parliamentary elections June 6-9. Analysts say the could see a strong rise of the far right.
鈥淲e are in the final stretch to make 9 June a day of liberation and hope,鈥 said the French presidential candidate. 鈥淲e have three weeks left to convince our respective compatriots to go out and vote.鈥
Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy party has , spoke in Spanish via video conference and called for young people to vote. 鈥淵ou are the only possible future for Europe,鈥 Meloni told them.
The defense of the EU鈥檚 borders was another main theme of the last of two days of a meeting in an arena in the outskirts of the Spanish capital.
鈥淲e are not against human rights, but we want strong borders in Europe... because it is ours,鈥漵aid Andr茅 Ventura, leader of Chega, a party that won the third largest number of . 鈥淲e cannot continue to have this massive influx of Islamic and Muslim immigrants into Europe,鈥 he added.
Meloni defended her country鈥檚 policy of reaching agreements with third countries to try to , while Le Pen advocated for reform of the Schengen area 鈥 which allows free movement of people within most of the bloc鈥檚 borders 鈥 so that 鈥淓urope allows each country to choose who enters and who leaves its territory.鈥
Vox鈥檚 president, Santiago Abascal, called for unity of the far-right ahead of the European election.
鈥淚n the face of globalism we must respond with a global alliance of patriots in defense of common sense, economic prosperity, security and freedom because we share the threat, and that leads us to solidarity,鈥 Abascal said.
The vote will indicate whether the continental political drift will match the seen across much of the globe from the Netherlands to Slovakia to Argentina.
Argentina鈥檚 fiery , who was welcomed like a star amidst chants of 鈥淔reedom," used the spotlight to bash Pedro S谩nchez, Spain's socialist prime minster, and his wife 鈥 something unthinkable for .
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 know what type of society and country (socialism) can produce and what kind of people chained to power and what levels of abuse it can generate," Milei said in his speech, before weighing in on the corruption allegations against S谩nchez's wife, Bego帽a G贸mez.
"Even if he has a corrupt wife, he gets dirty and takes five days to think about it,鈥 he said, referring to the time S谩nchez took after the accusations came to light.
In response, the Spanish government demanded an apology from Milei and said it was recalling its ambassador from Buenos Aires over the remarks, which Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares condemned as bringing 鈥渞elations between Spain and Argentina to the most grave point in our recent history.鈥
鈥淭o hospitality and good faith, he responded with a frontal attack on our democracy, on our institutions and on Spain,鈥 Albares said.
Over the course of Sunday's event, supporters who packed the Palacio de Vistalegre arena cheered messages against the and in favor of farm workers, in the continent to a standstill in recent months. They also applauded every speaker鈥檚 message in solidarity with following the .
Israel was represented at the meeting by its Minister for Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli.
and the former prime minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, also spoke from a video screen.
Meanwhile hundreds of left-wing activists were demonstrating against fascism in Madrid's city center.
鈥淚 am here because in Vistalegre we have a summit of hate and we must fight against fascists,鈥 said Frank Erbroder, a Polish activist at the gathering. 鈥淚 am worried because Hitler won because of democracy, and I think that maybe we鈥檒l have the same situation.鈥
___
Associated Press writers Iain Sullivan and Alicia Le贸n in Madrid and Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report.
___
Follow AP's global elections coverage at
