The Hague is watching Wilders’ speech at an ultra-conservative Hungarian conference with suspicion

In Hungary, but especially among the Dutch negotiating parties, day two of CPAC Hungary is eagerly awaited: the Conservative Political Action Conference. PVV leader Geert Wilders is visiting the ultra-conservative congress and will most likely address it today. This is especially a thorn in the side of NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt, says political reporter Mats Akkerman.

Wilders’ speech will therefore also be followed closely in the Netherlands, Akkerman knows. ‘Omtzigt is also at the formation table. He has made strengthening the rule of law an important point in the formation. That is not something we know Viktor Orbán from.’ The Hungarian Prime Minister is the initiator of the congress.

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Akkerman: ‘Wilders will have to give a strong story to enthuse the conservative audience there, but he will also have to take his words into account in the back of his mind, because of that cabinet formation.’

Criticism of migration

Correspondent in Hungary, Stefan Bos, expects that Wilders will mainly speak about migration and the importance of sovereign states in the European Union. ‘I think he will look critically at Brussels and will also say the things that the public is crazy about. Perhaps he will also take a pro-Trump stance. But he will not be so quick to comment on Dutch domestic politics.’

Wilders and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, host of the conference, find each other in this critical migration position, says Bos. ‘I also expect that Islam will become an important theme during this conference. Orbán is also concerned about that: about migration, and especially Muslim migrants whom he would prefer not to see.’

Good friends

Orbán and Wilders know each other well. Wilders’ wife is Hungarian, so his ties with Hungary and Orbán go back a long way, says Bos. ‘They have known each other for years, they are very good friends. Orbán was also one of the first to call Wilders to congratulate him on his election victory. Perhaps he still hoped that he would become prime minister, because that is what Orbán would have preferred.’

According to Bos, Wilders is seen as an important speaker during this conference. Orbán also has a clear political motive for inviting the Dutch politician, says Bos. ‘It is really a way for Orbán to show that he is not alone in Europe and that he still has a very important leader as an ally.’

Anti woke

The two-day conference is clearly anti-woke: the region where the conference is being held has been declared a ‘no-woke zone’. The foreign press is not or hardly welcome: NOS and the Flemish public broadcaster VRT, among others, were informed that they are not allowed to come to the conference. Only when the news organizations become ‘less woke’ would that decision be reconsidered.

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VRT itself shared the English rejection email online. “As organizers, we must adhere to one of the conference’s ironclad rules: CPAC is a NO WOKE ZONE,” the organization said. ‘We look forward to welcoming you to future events if and when your organization becomes significantly less woke.’