In the rural heart of France, where the green fields still echo the epic deeds of old Europe, more than 6,000 people gathered this Monday, June 9th, in Mormant-sur-Vernisson at an event dubbed ‘Victory Day,’ an homage to the Rassemblement National’s (RN) historic win in the European elections in 2024.
Leaders of the Patriots, the third largest parliamentary group in the European Parliament, and thousands of supporters met in the small town near Paris to assert a new vision for Europe: one of nations, roots, and sovereignty.
What might have seemed like a mere rally for RN, was in fact a demonstration of strength, conviction, and unity. The event’s host, Marine Le Pen, summed up the spirit of the day: “Our homeland deserves respect. We reject a Federal Union. We are not provinces of an empire. We are nations with history, with Christian heritage, with Roman law and Greek philosophy. Europe is not a technocratic machine: it is our home.” Her words rang out among tricolor flags and chants alternating “Liberté!” with cheers for France, Spain, and Hungary.
Le Pen was unequivocal in her condemnation of “the transformation of the EU into a unitary state that strips member states of their competencies.” Instead, she proposed a “chosen cooperation” model among sovereign nations. She defended the need for a “declaration of the rights of peoples,” as a counterweight to a European Union that “tells us what to think, what to produce, what to teach, and how to live.” According to Le Pen, Europe today is facing not merely a governance crisis, but a civilizational rupture: “The truth is that Brussels’ ultra-liberalism has imposed a technocratic environmentalism and handed us over to anarchic immigration laws that we categorically reject.”
The RN leader did not mince words about Brussels, stating that it has signed “a deal with the devil to flood Europe with migrants, dilute the population and wipe out European culture.”
The event brought together the elite of the continental patriotic bloc—from Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary, to Santiago Abascal, president of Spain’s VOX and the supranational Patriots group, alongside Matteo Salvini, Andrej Babiš, and Afrodita Latinopoulou. All shared a common diagnosis: the European Union has lost its way, has usurped powers it was never meant to have, and has ignored the peoples of Europe in favor of a technocratic, globalist project that—they affirm—is now beginning to collapse. “The liberal Western world has been sinking for 20 years,” stated Orbán, who proudly declared that his country has become “the nightmare of the European Union” and “the last bastion of Christian Europe.”
In that same line, the Hungarian leader recalled Europe’s founding values and denounced that “the difference between man and woman” is being erased by an ideology seeking to nullify nature. He quoted Albert Camus when evoking the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and emphasized that “once committed, one must see it through to the end.” His defense of identity, family, and sovereignty earned one of the longest rounds of applause of the day. One of the most rousing moments came when Abascal took the floor: “Every passing day is one day closer to Marine Le Pen becoming President of France!” he declared in French to an enraptured crowd. “Marine will be president. They won’t be able to stop it. And that day will be a joyful day for all Europeans, because France needs Marine, and Europe needs France back.” The Spanish leader denounced Le Pen’s current legal disqualification as ideological persecution, comparing it to the attacks suffered by conservative leaders in Colombia, Brazil, and the United States. “They attack us with the media, with the courts, with violence—but we will not stop. We have the strength of our homelands, of our families, of our history.”
Several attendees confirmed to europeanconservative.com that Le Pen’s leadership is unquestionable, no matter what happens in the courts. The day before, during the leadership meeting in Fontainebleau, the French leader was named honorary president of the Patriots group—a recognition of her legacy and work in France and Europe.
Geert Wilders sent a recorded message from the Netherlands. Matteo Salvini denounced “the Islamization of Europe” and criticized the EU for being “a domain of bureaucrats and bankers who do not fight human traffickers.” Afrodita Latinopoulou from Greece cried out: “They tell us to get used to living with less homeland, less security, less freedom. But we will not. We will resist. Europe is not dying: it’s catching its breath before it leaps forward.”
What was being celebrated was not only an electoral victory but a cultural, moral, and strategic one. The final photo, with all the Patriots leaders embracing and raising their hands, sent an unmistakable message: against the fragmentation of the Left and the exhaustion of the liberals, the Patriots present themselves as the most cohesive and promising political force on the continent.
A Europe proud of itself, unashamed, with secure borders, respect for its roots, and governments that serve their people. That is the horizon drawn from Mormant-sur-Vernisson. As Tom Van Grieken, president of Vlaams Belang, put it: “We are not many, but we are fierce. We are Europe’s resistance. And the future is with us.”
