MEPs from Marine Le Pen’s National Rally set to join Patriots for Europe faction

MEPs from Marine Le Pen’s National Rally are set to join the Patriots for Europe faction, making the new far-right group the third-largest in the European Parliament, several people involved in the discussions told POLITICO. The new right-wing alliance Patriots for Europe, formed at the end of June by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Czech opposition leader Andrej Babiš and Herbert Kickl head of the Free Party of Austria (FPÖ) has already met the basic conditions to become a faction in the European Parliament. The grouping will be joined by the Danish People's Party and the Belgian party Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest), the Dutch far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) of Geert Wilders, the Portuguese party Chega and the Spanish party Vox . European Parliament rules require official grouping to have 23 MEPs from seven countries. The faction will focus on greater sovereignty for EU member states, stronger measures against illegal migration and a revision of the Green Deal.