By More than 500 politicians and journalists, alongside influencers and conservative intellectuals from all around the world attended the second MEGA (Make Europe Great Again) event held in Brussels in late-January.
The event was organized by AUR (in Romanian: Partidul Alianța pentru Unirea Românilor), Romania’s second largest party, and the ECR group (European Conservatives and Reformists), the fourth largest group in the European Parliament.
The conference featured several lectures on political, economic and security challenges. The most prominent sessions addressed the impact of new media on politics and elections, EU-US relations under the new Trump administration, cultural ties, economic development and security at Europe’s borders.
The Return of Donald Trump: A Symbol, Even In Europe
The introduction featured top politicians, including; George Simion (AUR leader and ECR Vice President), Carlo Fidanza (Fratelli d’Italia MEP and ECR Vice President), Marion Maréchal (MEP and ECR Vice President) and Raúl Latorre (President of the Parliament of Paraguay), among others.
George Simion remarked the importance of the cooperation between conservative movements in Europe and the region, stating that without unity among conservatives, it would be very difficult or almost impossible to recover conservative values not only in Europe, but in the whole world.
“We are together today in Brussels, to take back what is ours: our continent, nation, values and identity,” Simion added.
He also said that Donald Trump’s arrival in the White House was great news for conservatives, as it was a symbol of the coming together and power for conservatives all over the world.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance and President Donald J. Trump on Inauguration Day, 20 January, 2025 (Photo: Office of Vice President of the United States / Wikimedia Commons)
Marion Maréchal highlighted that one of the main problems in Europe was the demography, as, according to her, the European continent is losing its essence. She pointed out how there are areas of France that do not seem to be a part of Europe.
More immigrants have entered Europe than children have been born on European soil, and every year there are more births in Nigeria than on the entire European continent.”
Carlo Fidanza criticised the “messages” that were being given from Europe, “demonizing the entrepreneurs, the farmers and giving ease to all those who came from outside illegally and promising a future without respecting our customs.”
He affirms that with the arrival of the conservatives to power this can be reversed and changed as they have begun to do in his country with Giorgia Meloni.
Raul Latorre “presented” to Europe how Paraguay, despite being a population of 6 million inhabitants, as a country that is a bastion of conservatism and staunch defenders of the family.
“In our constitution the family is the center of everything. However, we do not defend it just because it is in the constitution, but because it is in the heart of all Paraguayans.”
Immigration and Demography: Two Modern Problems
Immigration is one of the most recurrent and important topics in recent years, in fact, it is the great topic of conservatives in Europe, since they were the first to point out the problem of illegal and massive immigration in European countries with disastrous effects.
Illegal migrants sitting on top of the fence on the Spanish-Moroccan border. (Photo: flickr.com / YU-bin)
Geadis Geadi, ECR MEP for Cyprus, pointed out how the liberal open-door policy in Europe had been a complete disaster, causing European societies to lose security on the streets and migrant ‘ghettos’ to form, transforming countries.
We must implement strict policies on illegal immigration to send a strong message to the mafias that do business with illegal immigration.”
Demographics is another major topic that has a direct bearing on illegal immigration. On this topic, conservatives were also the first to warn about the demographic decline that the West was suffering and that this could not be solved with immigration, but with family policies and a change of discourse.
Aurelijus Veryga, ECR MEP for Lithuania and former Minister of Health in Lithuania, spoke of demography as one of the main challenges of the 21st century. He pointed out that, as a psychiatrist, he knew very well how the human brain works and how easy it is to manipulate. He said, that indoctrination is everywhere and we can see it in TV series and so on, so that pillars like the family are attacked through this.
“The mainstream media tells you: we can live single, we don’t need children because we want to protect nature and prevent climate change,” the ECR MEP stressed.
He ended by saying that illegal immigration is not the solution, as that has brought problems like in Sweden, where there are organized immigrant gangs wreaking havoc in the country. The real solution is family policies.
The Role of New Media in Trump’s Return
The challenge of new media is a more recent topic, especially since the first election won by Trump in 2016 with his great success and his political strategy on Twitter. Social media saw the censorship of content that went against the official covid-19 discourse (recognized by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself) and the suspension of conservative accounts on Twitter and the censorship of Hunter Biden’s laptop news. This debate was opened when Elon Musk bought Twitter (now X) and the importance of social networks as an alternative to mainstream media became clear.
Christine Anderson, MEP for AfD, pointed out the double standard when Twitter’s previous owners were censoring and creating their public opinion with what Elon Musk is doing now.
“They call Musk a billionaire who is using his platform to create public opinion. Well, that’s exactly what you guys have done, you showed us how to do it. Now let’s give them a taste, some of your own medicine. I hope you like it.”
Rob Roos, former Dutch ECR MEP, made a speech about how with the start of Barack Obama’s presidency in 2008 the era of globalism started. However, he claims that with Trump’s arrival that has changed, as with Trump being President and having a majority in both Houses, conservative policies will go mainstream again.
“The momentum of the MAGA movement can inspire change across Europe and beyond. Now is the time to build a unified front that transcends party lines and minor disagreements,” Roos said.
A New Momentum in Unity Among European Conservatives
The event was a great opportunity to share problems and solutions from different conservative points of view, as there were people from different political groups (EPP, PfE, ESN) and even from other countries.
We see how the triumphant MAGA movement not only stays in the United States, but it crosses borders and if it had already arrived in Europe, now it does it with more strength and with the support of Donald Trump from the White House and from the social media with Elon Musk.
In short, these types of events are a great opportunity for the conservative world to be united, to show problems and solutions, to network and to know that there are more people who share the same concerns. This is what has been asked of the conservative movement for some time and although there is still some disunity over small topics, the new conservative right is more united than ever.
