Frankfurt am Main: French presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen will lead a European gathering of right-wing populist parties in Germany on Saturday in a show of strength ahead of crucial elections across the region this year.
The congress in the western city of Koblenz will also feature Geert Wilders of the Dutch far-right Freedom Party, Frauke Petry of the anti-migrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Matteo Salvini of Italy’s xenophobic Northern League.
Emboldened by Britain’s vote to leave the EU and Donald Trump’s US election win, they are hoping to capitalise on rising resentment against the establishment and alarm over migration to shake up the political landscape on the continent.
Billed as a “European counter-summit”, the event is being held just a day after the inauguration of Trump, who himself rode to power on a wave of discontent with the status quo.
In announcing the meeting on Twitter, Wilders used the hashtag “WeWillMakeOurCountriesGreatAgain”, a play on Trump’s election-winning slogan “Make America Great Again”.
