In two days, two speakers receive a standing ovation in the packed conference hall of CPAC in Budapest. The first is Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian Prime Minister who is hosting this European branch of the originally American political circus for the third year in a row. The second is Geert Wilders.
“The Dutch people were tired of being ignored, they were tired of their values and everything that people love being stomped on,” the PVV leader said on Friday afternoon about his party’s election victory in November. “And so they shouted: enough is enough!”
Wilders has been announced by the presenters as “the Dutch Trump”, “one of the bravest conservative politicians in Europe” and “a good friend of Hungary”. Shortly before his performance, the ‘enemies’ of the conference are featured in a bombastic video: ‘woke’, the Hungarian-American billionaire and progressive philanthropist George Soros, ‘globalists’ who would steal children.
A day earlier, Orbán called in his speech to “put on armor and go to the battlefield.” There is doubt about election results, talk about politically driven pedophile networks and praise for the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters. “The elite has declared war on us,” said Dutch radical-right influencer Eva Vlaardingerbroek to an enthusiastic audience on Thursday morning.
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Against that background, Wilders’ speech sounds relatively subdued, even for him. He addresses cultural relativism and immigration, without making any new statements. He calls Orbán, with whom he spoke earlier in the day, “a good friend who proudly stands for his country and for Judeo-Christian values.”
The rest of his story is peppered with references to classic right-wing icons such as Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill and the conservative intellectual William Buckley. The latter taught him that a good conservative is “someone who stands up to history and says ‘Halt!’ shouts,” says Wilders. He then addresses the activists and politicians in the room with an appeal. “Keep doing that and millions of citizens will join you!”
A bit mainstream
“He was a bit mainstream in the sources of inspiration he cited,” says Sarah de Lange, who specializes in the radical right as a professor at the University of Amsterdam, about Wilders’ speech. “Reagan, Churchill, Washington: these are of course absolutely not radical right-wing idols.”
Such a story might not have been out of place in the early editions of CPAC, says De Lange, when Reaganism and classical conservatism still predominated. “But of course that is not what CPAC is today. CPAC is really the radical right these days.”
Why then the standing ovation for Wilders? “That might have been a bit forced,” says Eric Hendriks after Wilders’ speech on a café terrace next to the conference site. A large number of media, including NRC, access was refused because they were said to be ‘too woke’. Journalists rely on the livestream to follow the speakers.
“This is the real rally work from the United States,” says Hendriks, who works at the Danube Institute, a conservative think tank in Budapest. “That works with American politicians who master such speeches and an American public that is attuned to it. But this is an international meeting, with many speakers who do not speak Hungarian, while the audience does, and who are also not always used to giving those thunderous campaign speeches. A bit like Trump giving a speech in French.”
At the same time, the conference is “hugely valuable,” Hendriks continues. “This is one big ecosystem, there is enormous tolerance for different currents here.” And moreover: the admiration for Wilders in Hungary is great, even though it may not be the speech of his life.
“It was announced in a big way, you come here for Wilders, then you as an audience want to do your best to show enthusiasm,” said Hendriks. This is also how he explains his choice of clothing: today he is wearing a Hungarian hussar’s jacket, and a hat with a feather adorns his head.
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Strategic approach
Wilders’ tone will have been reassuring to VVD, NSC and BBB, the parties with whom the PVV is trying to form a cabinet in its own country. NSC leader Pieter Omtzigt had said in advance that he was “very curious” what Wilders would say. After questions about Wilders’ presence at the conference, Dilan Yesilgöz, leader of the VVD, called it important that the four negotiating parties “stay on the same page” on certain issues.
Wilders himself talks about it in the first minutes of his speech. “Allow me to address the Dutch press, which is acting very tense today. Would Wilders kill the negotiations by speaking here today? No, I’m not going to do that. Winning elections and becoming the largest party comes with a responsibility. If that’s all you’re interested in, go home.”
Professor De Lange is not surprised that Wilders approaches it this way. “He is of course a strategically very experienced politician, who makes very clear choices about how to deliver such a speech.” She can hardly imagine that the formation is bothered by Wilders’ words. The other speakers may make more radical statements, but their collaboration with Wilders cannot be news to anyone.
“The kind of politicians who come here are also the politicians with whom Wilders works in the European Parliament,” says De Lange. “And the other negotiating parties have previously had no problems with that.”
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