On July 10, a new far-right group appeared in the European Parliament, the Europe of Sovereign Nations. The extremist Alternative for Germany (AfD), after it was rejected by the Identity and Democracy (ID) group of Marine Le Pen and ignored by the Patriots for Europe, faced the risk of isolation in the Parliament. Establishing a new group under AfD’s control seemed the only solution for the Germans. Thus, they partnered with seven other parties, including a Polish one, and created the Europe of Sovereign Nations. The new group has two co-chairs, one German and one Polish. However, this Polish-German alliance created more problems in the Confederation Liberty and Independence (Konfederacja), a Polish alliance between three far-right parties, threatening its existence. The coalition between the three far-right parties seemed solid, and the partners should be loyal to them. However, a sign from AfD was enough to put Konfederacja in crisis.
Konfederacja consists of New Hope, the National Movement (RN), and the Confederation of the Polish Crown (KKP) parties, all advocating Poland’s exit from the EU, strong anti-immigration and anti-Ukraine policies. The programmes of the constituent parties include racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-LGBTI rhetoric. In the recent past, the Confederation promoted the idea of Polish cooperation with Russia and China to counterbalance the influence of the United States and Germany.
An extremist minority alliance, Konfederacja, rose in the 2023 general elections, exploiting the country’s economic situation. Moreover, it spread disinformation concerning an imaginary economic burden for the national economy represented by Ukrainian refugees living in Poland. Exploiting nationalist sentiments, the alliance won 18 seats in the Polish Parliament (Sejm). The co-chairmen of Konfederacja are Krzysztof Bosak, representing the activist National Movement and Sławomir Mentzen from the New Hope.
Interestingly, AfD negotiated only with the New Hope and excluded the participation of the other two parties of Konfederacja.
Who is who in the far-right environment
The National Movement is the oldest among the three partners. Initially a pro-Russia party, it developed negative views towards Russia due to Russian allegations about the role the Poles played during WW2. It also condemned the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the party called for banning Russia from SWIFT, stopping visas for Russian citizens and accused Russia of being an “existential threat” to Poland.
The leading personalities of RN consider homosexuality a disease and oppose LGBTI rights frequently attacking pro-LGBTI gatherings.
Among the most grotesque proposals of the party is the introduction of a universal territorial defence unit, the right of citizens to pursue guns, the exclusion of foreigners from owning Polish land and the construction of a watchtower in every commune. RN is also highly climate denialist.
In June’s European elections, they won two seats in the European Parliament.
However, the New Hope arrived first among the Konfederacja parties, winning three seats. Its leader can often change controversial declarations concerning the EU, Germany, or Jews.
For example, before the 2019 European Parliament election, he said in a speech: “We do not want Jews, homosexuals, abortions, taxation and the European Union.” He later accused his critics of distorting what he said.
Also in 2019, Mentzen proposed 100 bills ready to be legislated under the Sejm’s jurisdiction, including a prison sentence for performing an abortion, the legalisation of light corporal punishment of children by parents, the reintroduction of the death penalty, and the ending of Poland’s ban on promoting Nazism and using hate speech. After these bills provoked outrage in the country, they disappeared from the website where they were published, and Mentzen said he had no idea about the author of the proposals. As a consequence of spreading hate speech, Instagram banned Mentzen’s account.
Founded in 2015 by the pro-Russian far-right former MEP Janusz Korwin-Mikke, NN distanced itself from Russia under Mentzen’s leadership. NN expressed support for Ukraine but didn’t support military aid due to equipment shortages in Poland.
Finally, the Confederation of the Polish Crown (KKP), led by Grzegorz Braun, is a monarchist, sovereigntist, anti-vaccination and antisemite party. It supports Russia considering the war in Ukraine a consequence of NATO enlargement and Ukrainian discrimination against the Russian minority and expressed strong anti-Ukrainian rhetoric, including hate speech.
AfD divides Konfederacja
The partnership between New Hope and AfD triggered a severe conflict among Konfederacja’s parties, as many in the leadership opposed any cooperation with the Germans.
AfD demanded the exclusion of RN and KKP and negotiated exclusively with the New Hope. To make the offer more enticing, AfD offered the co-chairmanship to the leading MEP of NN giving the long-time ally Revival party from Bulgaria a position of vice-chairman. Thus, the bureau of the Europe of Sovereign Nations group consists of the co-presidents René Aust (AfD) and Stanisław Tyszka (NN) and the vice presidents Sarah Knafo (Reconquête), Milan Uhrík (Republika) and Stanislav Stoyanov (Revival).
AfD’s hostile stance towards the two other Polish parties is due to their solid anti-German rhetoric. The National Movement accuses AfD of occasionally issuing statements about revising the border with Poland.
However, Tyszka, years ago, publicly warned against the AfD as a “dangerously anti-Polish” party.
Tyszka explained that creating a group was better than remaining independent and promised to fight the “EU’s crazy climate policy, the immigration policy that threatens the stability of our countries and Europe, and attempts to build a European superstate.” He also denied that AfD had questioned the Polish-German border.
Also, Mentzen denied that AfD questioned the borders.
“The AfD does not want to review the border with Poland… The AfD is not anti-Polish, either. It is pro-German”, he posted on X on July 10.
“Of all the German parties, AfD is the only one that defends Polish sovereignty against the EU, defends Polish industry and agriculture against the Green Deal, defends Europe against mass immigration, while other German parties want to take away our sovereignty by changing EU treaties, wish to destroy our industry and agriculture, they want to flood us with immigrants. So, who is anti-Polish here?” emphasised the leader of New Hope.
RN claims that Sławomir Mentzen and his party do not know what AfD is. NN’s decision to condemn the other three far-right Polish MEPs in the isolation of the Non-Inscrits group in the European Parliament considered only the party’s interests.
Krzysztof Bosak, RN leader, believes that the Confederation should focus on cooperation with the Patriots for Europe and Marine Le Pen.
However, the climate in Konfederacja is explosive, and a split could be on the way. The alliance sought to exploit the crisis of the Law and Justice (PiS) party penetrating its electoral base. Nevertheless, the crisis in Konfederacja will lead the coalition of the three parties to internal fighting, eventually reducing its appeal.
