Be proud of who you are

exclusive interview by David Bencsik

After Berlin, the government in Paris has also collapsed, and President Macron seems unable to deal with the situation. However much the National Rally has boosted its popularity, the two-round electoral system has so far successfully prevented your party from giving the country a President of the Republic. Are you preparing to govern? Can this glass wall be broken?

I think victory will come sooner than observers think.

In two years, we have gone from six to 143 deputies, and we are winning over millions and millions of French people at every election. In France, we often say that politics is like a tidal wave, and that the wind of patriotism is blowing higher and higher in France, because it is also a global phenomenon. Every day we are preparing to take power. The National Rally is a force of hope for millions of French people who are working for our country. As for the breakthrough, I not only think we will break the glass wall, I am convinced of it. France is the only country in Europe that does not have a parliamentary electoral system based on proportional representation.

With a proportional system, we would have been in power ten years ago. Last time, in the second round of the parliamentary elections, we got 36%, a result that no other Western party can claim. Victory has so far been denied because of an unnatural alliance between the opposition forces of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Emmanuel Macron. But they have only bought time, for victory is coming.

Secularism is part of the French identity. The National Rally started as an explicitly Christian party. How important do you think Christianity is politically and socially?

France is historically a Christian country, but the Republic is secular in its institutions. The French are certainly one of the oldest nations in the world, with a kingdom that has existed since the baptism of the Frankish king Clovis I (Clovis of Merovingian ruled from 482-511 AD). Throughout its two thousand years of history, Christianity has shaped its values, its identity, its chronology and its monuments, which are symbols of Christianity for the whole world, such as Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. Since the beginning of the 20th century, there has been a legal separation of Church and State, on which we insist. Defending and promoting this secularism is also the program of the National Rally. At a time when the rise of Islam in France is calling this value into question. The greatest challenge in France today is to defend an identity and a civilization and to prevent them from being challenged by a religio-political system that does not want to isolate itself from French society, but to conquer it. I know what the concept of value means in Hungary, but we have lost this common understanding of the word value in the West.

In May 2023, at the CPAC conference in Budapest, you said that „we have the strength and the potential to reform Europe from within”. The members of the new European Commission were recently elected by the elite of the European Parliament, and Ms. von der Leyen stayed on. When can we expect a breakthrough in Brussels and in Europe?

When France is liberated and has a patriotic government. Only two countries can change the course of European politics, France and Germany, because of their economic and political weight. That is why many countries and peoples are watching what is happening in France. There are leaders who are watching and listening to the voice of the people, such as Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Giorgia Meloni in Italy and Geert Wilders in the Netherlands. It is a serious political factor that the patriots have formed the third largest group in the European Parliament. Ten years ago, Europe was ruled by Italian President Matteo Renzi, French President François Hollande and German President Angela Merkel, but things have changed a lot since then and will change even more from now on. Every major political and economic power that succeeds does so because it trusts itself. Donald Trump won in America because he talked to the American people about America. I also want us to find our way back to French pride.

Isn’t it too late to return? Mr. President, you mentioned that Islam, which has taken root in France, is spreading. Is there anything left to return to? Can the ‘grande nation’ still be restored?

I think that if it were too late, I would not be in politics, I would not be here today, I would be doing something else. The history of France is also a permanent theater of the spirit of loss and of those who said no. But France has always been reborn throughout history and has been the engine of Europe. Our greatest adversary, however, is not Emmanuel Macron or Ursula von der Leyen, but time, whether it be demographic, economic and trade issues, or migration, technology and agriculture. What Europe will look like in the 21st century is being decided now. The decisions we take will all influence what Europe will be like, and that is why politics matters. I quote the French poet and critic André Suarés when I say that there are times that define epochs. This is the spirit in which I am moving.

Let us return to the Franco-German axis mentioned earlier. Many people in Europe today seem to think that the classic Franco-German axis is being replaced by a London-Warsaw-Kiev axis. Can a Europe motivated and led by Paris and Berlin ever return?

I don’t believe in this fault line, the Franco-German unity, the tandem is the engine of Europe, it’s just that this pair is a bit unbalanced. For this love to last, both sides have to contribute. It is not advantageous for one side to subjugate the other, and that is what the European Union is today, representing German interests against all and sundry. This is also the case in military terms, and this imbalance prevails in all trade agreements.

We sacrifice French industry so that Germany can sell Mercedes cars. It is the same with energy. European regulations prevent France from standing up for what the great statesman Charles de Gaulle said, that nuclear energy must be dealt with. All this in order to conform to German decisions, to their policy against nuclear energy. The key French expression on the international stage is therefore ‘force of balance’. For a long time, we have been a bridge between East and West, and I am sorry to see that France does not sufficiently represent its interests on the international stage. France is the second net contributor to the EU budget, so when France says something, the European Commission has to listen. Or it should.

In both Germany and France, the government has collapsed. To what extent do the newly elected governments have a chance to create a partnership based on proportionality that would give new impetus to the Paris-Berlin axis? Is this the historic moment?

I do not think so, because it is not the Prime Minister who can restore the balance, but the President of the Republic.

A return of the German CDU is not out of the question, but what do you think of the growing rival AfD? There are many in Hungary who ask why the AfD is not invited to join the ranks of the patriots…

In the five years that I have been a member of the European Parliament and party leader, I have been working with my partners on how to expand our European cooperation. We are sovereignists, and I try to represent and implement the European motto ‘unity in diversity’.

We worked with the AfD for five years, but sometimes they took a position that was not in the spirit of our group, and they were attacked in the media. If we want to convince people, we must also avoid caricatured, exaggerated statements. In fact, many people in Europe have doubts about us. We want to be seen for what we are, and that is why I want to avoid provocations. Nothing is irreversible, individual political groups can grow, and I want our group to grow as well.

During your visit to Hungary, you also met Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is also striving for balance, but he seems to be the only European leader who is trying to maintain and even improve dialogue with the Russian and Chinese presidents. What do you think about Viktor Orbán’s political mission and personality?

A free patriot defending the interests of his country. I don’t comment on the diplomatic decisions and interests of another country, but I can give you the French position, my own opinion on the matter. I condemn the Russian aggression. Many have underestimated President Putin’s ambitions in terms of war. I have repeatedly said that we must support Ukraine. I believe that many of the EU sanctions are misguided, that they are mainly for moral reasons and not for real interests, such as economic and energy measures. I say yes to supporting Ukraine, but when thousands of French farmers cannot make a living, it is madness to abandon our tariff measures. As I have just said, France is, in my opinion, a balancing power, we are also a nuclear power, and it is not good for a nuclear power to be opposed by another nuclear power, precisely because it could escalate. I believe, like Zelensky, that sooner or later there will have to be a cease-fire and weapons will have to be laid down. Viktor Orbán is trying to achieve this, trying to keep the dialogue between the parties alive.

Let us turn to your recently published book, which has been a great success. The launch took place in the Hungarian House, the last bastion of free speech in Brussels, and was greeted by a violent crowd of far-leftists who threw bottles and fireworks at the police. What motivated you to write this book?

To dispel the doubts of the French and to prevent people from seeing only distorted images of me in the media. It’s a book of confessions.

In France, where politics and literature are so dominant, it is essential to confront your opponents in this way. I have been in the media for five years and I am active on social media, like all young people in their thirties, but there are things that I can only explain well through this book. Through it, people can better understand my career and the environment in which I grew up, so that the French can understand where I am going.

Despite your young age, your career is respectable. Where do you see yourself professionally in the next five to ten years?

I don’t know, I honestly have no idea. If someone had told me ten years ago, when I was putting up posters during the election campaign, that I’d be party leader in a decade, I wouldn’t have believed it. What I’m doing now is something I should theoretically be doing in France when I’m 50, and I’m 29. Napoleon, who was often attacked for his youth, once said on a trip to Italy that you grow up very quickly on the battlefield.

You also have Italian ancestors. Do you look up to Napoleon as an example?

Napoleon’s legacy has certainly left its mark on us, it has shaped our relationship with the state. For example, he created the French penal code (Code Pénal, 1810 – ed.). And when we seek the greatness of our own country, we are clearly influenced by Napoleon’s legacy. „What I seek” is the title of my book (Ce que je cherche, 2024), which is actually a quote from Napoleon cut in half. The original reads, „Above all, what I seek is greatness: what is great is always beautiful. (Ce que je cherche avant tout, c’est la grandeur : ce qui est grand est toujours beau).

Speaking of greatness, will Alain Delon’s France ever come back?

We are working on it!

Christmas is coming, and Hungarians think of France as a romantic, beautiful country. What is your message to the Hungarians?

It touches me to see a country, Hungary, where people are proud of their history, their Hungarianness, their traditions and are not afraid to wish each other a Merry Christmas. Patriotism is not hatred, but love for our countries and our citizens. In France, certain political movements want to ban Christmas and the wish for a Merry Christmas. My message to Hungarians is very simple: be proud of who you are and keep it that way!