Jair Bolsonaro, Matteo Slavini already confirmed; invites sent to Trump, Le Pen
The presence in Lisbon of “various leaders of the world’s extreme right promises to be a big headache for PSP police who will have to guarantee security of those taking part in the summit between May 13 and 14”.
So says Correio da Manhã tabloid today, following up on a video statement recorded by André Ventura, leader of Portugal’s right wing party CHEGA.
Militantes e amigos do Chega, anuncio-vos que o ex-Presidente brasileiro, Jair Bolsonaro, bem como o atual vice primeiro-ministro italiano, Matteo Slavini, já aceitaram o nosso convite para a grande cimeira mundial da direita, em Lisboa, nos dias 13 e 14 de Maio. Vai ser enorme! pic.twitter.com/mwohAZQZHe
— André Ventura (@AndreCVentura) April 7, 2023
According to Ventura’s statement, “The presence of Jair Bolsonaro, Matteo Salvini and many other leaders of the European right, places Lisbon as one of the strongest new centers of the right in Europe and one of the world references in the fight against socialism; the fight against impoverishment, the fight against globalism, the fight against federalism, the fight against gender ideology, the fight against for the dignity of those who work for those who live at the cost of those who work”.
CM suggests the Lisbon summit aims to emulate events put on by the “ultra conservative American movement”, championed by former president Donald Trump.
Mr Trump has already been sent an invitation to the summit, as has France’s right wing icon Marine Le Pen.
Confirmed for the event already are former president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro and Italian deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini, Geert Wilders of Holland’s Freedom Party, Tino Chupralia, president of Germany’s Alternative (AfD) party, and Santiago Abascal, of Spain’s Vox, says the paper, adding that CHEGA has been in touch with the ministry of internal administration, “which will have to articulate security” for such VIP attendees.
As of now, the venue for this “great right wing world summit” (the description given by André Ventura) is unclear, because, according to a CHEGA source “security teams are finding difficulties with regard to open air venues”.
The city’s Campo Pequeno was one of the first choices, but a decision is still dependent on whether or not this is considered ‘safe enough’ from the point of being able to guarantee attendees’ security.
CHEGA has been Portugal’s third largest political force since the last legislative elections. But what the party also boasts, according to recent opinion polls, is the fastest growing level of support. A poll conducted last month put PS Socialists falling in popularity ; PSD growing (but in a lacklustre fashion), while CHEGA has steamrollered forwards to receive its “best result yet”. The bottom line suggested was that if PSD joined forces with CHEGA, the two parties could easily wrestle power away from PS Socialists (with 46% of the vote, compared with the PS’ current 25.9%). The trouble with this hypothesis is the lack of ‘common ground’ recognised this far between PSD and CHEGA which has been largely ‘demonised’ in parliament.
