A populist army marching towards Brussels to obtain a majority in the European Parliament and defeat "the Davos party" once and for all. A Foundation for populists, that gives life to the electoral campaign for the European elections of 2019 and puts together the crème of the crème of the Italian anti-establishment, Austrian, tedesco, French, British. An organization that challenges Open Society with foil, the billionaire's pro-migrant foundation George Soros, the six-headed Hydra for lovers of conspiracies and plots. The dream of Steve Bannon begins to take shape. After Trump's former chief strategist stormed the White House, dishonorably dismissed from Tycoon, he worked 24 hours a day to repeat the experiment in Europe. And if a widespread cliché dictates that the sequel to a film is unlikely to achieve the same success as the original, Sloppy Steve's European challenge may be the exception that proves the rule.
The Daily Beast, after hearing Bannon, revealed the first details. It will be called The Movement, it will be a right-wing party (but he will not despise the contribution of different voices, as long as the enemy remains the same: the European elites), will have its headquarters in Brussels and is already looking for staff to get the ball rolling. Money won't be a problem. Bannon doesn't care that much, he is still in disbelief that the Leave Brexit campaign achieved its goal with a budget of 7 million pounds: “When they told me that the spending limit was 7 millions I told him but you understand 70 millions?? Con 7 millions don't buy anything from us. Don't buy Facebook data from us, you don't buy advertising from us, Nothing".
In London, in the luxurious Mayfair hotel, the meeting that marked the beginning of the new political adventure. Together with Bannon and Raheem Kassam, former chief of staff of Nigel Farage and director of Breitbart, a large delegation from European anti-establishment movements showed up. Farage himself was there, Jerome Rivière of the National Rally (Ex Front National), Filip Dewinter of the Flemish Flemish Interest, the Republican congressman Paul Gosar (envoy of the very powerful Freedom Caucus, group of pro-Trump conservatives that Bannon wants to have on his side).
And then not exactly reassuring faces, Prominent exponents of ultra-right parties such as Sweden Democrats and True Finns who were initially supposed to stay out but at the last minute Bannon brought back because they were "perfect for the role". There is no news of the League's involvement in the London meeting. There is little chance, however, that the most hated strategist in America will not set the table with the most delicious dish, Matteo Salvini's League which is climbing the polls and conquers the spotlight every day with rejections at sea. Bannon has real admiration for the Italian Interior Minister. And if a place in the leadership of the Movement for Le Pen and Farage is already secured, it is unlikely that the Northern League secretary will remain out, which at the moment has a very different specific weight and knows a little about the dynamics of Strasbourg. Matteo Salvini's words in a very recent interview with the Washington Post dispel the doubts, to which he said he wanted to "put together a group that obtains a majority in the European Parliament".
The time has been ripe for a while now. La debacle del Front National, the ultra-right movement led by Marine Le Penin which Bannon had placed so much hope, seemed to have removed once and for all the danger of a populist international ready to take over Brussels. But in just under a year the rise of Eurosceptic forces in Austria, Holland and Germany and the sensational exploits of the League and the Five Star Movement 4 March they reopened the game. Meanwhile, Bannon has lost two jobs (at the White House and others Breitbart news, the all-news station dear to the far-right that he himself founded) and gained a new one, no less profitable: put in the time, money and expertise at the service of a new European populist movement.
We got wind of it two months ago, when he stopped in Rome on a European tour worthy of a rock star, exploding in an irrepressible enthusiasm for the imminent birth of a yellow-green government, fulfillment of a dream that Bannon would have liked to realize overseas, by his own admission, combining the impetuosity of Donald Trump with the charisma of Bernie Sanders. Not bad, life offered him another opportunity, and this time too the wind is blowing in his favor. Tic-tac, the hands run, the European elections are getting closer and the eurosceptics have a wild card on their side. Who wants a different Europe, liberals, moderate is warned: To stop Cyclone Bannon, something more will be needed than a few blue-starred flags on the streets of Brussels.
Of Marcello Veneziani
