Hundreds protest against far-right meeting in Madrid
STORY: :: Hundreds of protesters descend on Madrid to
oppose a rally organized by Spain's far right Vox Party
:: May 19, 2024
:: Dominika Lasota, Polish activist
“Right now we are in this moment, right now we are in the moment where we can still stop them, we can still elect progressive, democratic politicians that are ready to courageously fight for our rights, for our safety. And we have to do it now, just so we don’t wake up after 9th of June and we will be terrified at how it happened. Now we can decide for it not to happen.”
:: Franek Borda, Polish activist
“I’m scared because the far-right parties in Europe can take democracy and smash them and it’s very very uncomfortable for me. And yes, so I think we must mobilize, not only in Poland, not only in Spain but in all European countries.”
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and Argentina's newly-elected president Javier Milei were among those who attended the rally. Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Poland’s former Prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki addressed attendees via video link.
Like its partners in the European Parliament's ECR (European Conservatives and Reformists) group, Vox hopes to ride a populist wave in the June 9 election to increase its current tally of four seats in the pan-EU assembly.
