European Far-Right Leaders Decry EU, Mass Immigration
European right-wing leaders meeting in the Czech capital, Prague, have railed against mass immigration and the European Union.
The December 16 conference of the right-wing Europe of Nations and Freedoms (MENL) group in the European Parliament is being attended by Marine Le Pen of France, Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, Dutch politician Geert Wilders, and other rightist leaders.
"Brussels is an existential threat to our nation-states," Wilders said in criticism of the EU. He added that he also hoped "Czechs will keep their doors firmly shut to mass migration."
Le Pen welcomed the announcement earlier in the day that Austria had established a government that includes a far-right party led by Strache.
The meeting is being hosted by the Czech Republic's Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, which won nearly 11 percent of the vote in Czech parliamentary elections in October based on an anti-Islam and anti-immigrant platform.
A group of some 150 protesters rallied outside the conference, which is being held at the Top Hotel in Prague's outskirts.
Czech police have stepped up security for some of the ring-wing leaders and kept protesters from entering the hotel.
MENL was formed in 2015.
