Trump-Zelenskyy clash exposes divisions in Europe's rising far right

Right-wing populists in Europe are far from a cohesive group, curbing their sway in European Union politics and underlining the limits of Musk's effort to rally the region around his MEGA campaign to promote the anti-EU far right.

Berlin/Rome/Madrid: Donald Trump's White House confrontation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is exposing differences within Europe's burgeoning far-right movement over his plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

They celebrated the U.S. president's return to power for taking a fringe movement mainstream and have backed billionaire Elon Musk's call to "Make Europe Great Again" (MEGA). But some on Europe's far right are torn about Trump's dressing-down of Zelenskyy and his seeming indifference to the perceived threat Russian President Vladimir Putin poses to democratic Europe.

Trump on Monday froze critical U.S. military aid for Ukraine against Russia's three-year-old invasion following an explosive public confrontation in the Oval Office last week over a peace plan with Zelenskyy, who infuriated Trump by insisting the U.S. should provide security guarantees as part of any ceasefire.

A handful of Europe's far-right figures including Hungary's Viktor Orban, Germany's Tino Chrupalla and Italy's Matteo Salvini have backed Trump emphatically.

Other right-leaning politicians such as Britain's Nigel Farage and Poland's Krzysztof Bosak couched their support with caveats or were openly critical of Trump's cold-shouldering of Europe and Ukraine while suggesting Kyiv would have to cede territory for peace but demanding no concessions from the Kremlin.

The divergence shows how right-wing populists are far from a cohesive group, curbing their sway in European Union politics and underlining the limits of Musk's effort to rally the region around his MEGA campaign to promote the anti-EU far right.

"There is a combination of factors that don't necessarily spur open confrontation with Trump as with the left, but still lead to distance between him and ... far-right parties that increasingly accept European integration," said Alexander Clarkson, lecturer in European studies at King's College London.

Nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban sprang to Trump's defence, supporting the president's approach to Ukraine peace talks that, so far, exclude Kyiv and Europe.

Trump had "stood bravely for peace - even if it was difficult for many to digest," Orban said on X after Trump's tongue-lashing of Zelenskyy in front of global media.

Siding with Trump

The far-right, pro-Russia Alternative for Germany (AfD), fresh from its historic second place in last month's national election, also sided with Trump.

"Since the EU and Germany unfortunately fail as mediators, the USA and Russia must come to an agreement (on Ukraine)," AfD co-leader Chrupalla wrote on X.

Bjoern Hoecke, leader of the AfD's most radical far-right wing, said the White House bust-up was Zelenskyy's fault after he "decided he had to insult his hosts".

A source at Spain's Vox party took a warier stance, saying that overt support for Putin by some of its European counterparts was leaving its voters confused.

"Trump's unpredictability has left us in disarray," the source said. "Do we attack Putin or align ourselves with Trump's view of Putin?"

Some, such as the far-right opposition Konfederacja in Poland, where fear of Russian regional domination is deeply rooted in history, blasted Trump and Putin alike.

"Trump, contrary to his campaign promises and perhaps contrary to his own imagination, was unable to obtain a quick peace from Putin," Konfederacja co-leader Bosak said on Facebook. "Putin still decides how long this war will last, regardless of who is in the White House."

Other right-wing populists were more equivocal.

Nigel Farage, leader of Britain's Reform party, agreed on X with Zelenskyy that Ukraine needed "the right security guarantees" for a peace plan to work but later was more critical of the Ukrainian leader, saying on LBC radio that "in diplomatic terms, I think Zelenskyy played it very badly".

France's National Rally leader Marine Le Pen has refused to take sides, saying both Trump and Zelenskyy were defending their national interests during their heated quarrel.

While Orban backed Trump's plan, his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni was in London discussing a European alternative peace plan.

"We are Europeans, and this issue concerns us closely - it is happening on our doorstep. We have taken a position and we are sticking to it," said Edmondo Cirielli, Italy's deputy foreign minister and member of Meloni's Brothers of Italy party.

Fine line

Meloni, who has staunchly backed Ukraine since becoming Italy's premier but has cultivated good relations with Trump, aims to walk a fine line between backing Europe on defence and not angering the U.S. president, said Emanuele Massetti, a political science professor at the University of Trento.

"The main strategy is to speak as little as possible or to adopt a general position that emphasises the need to remain in harmony with the U.S.," Massetti said.

Trump's plans for Ukraine are also sewing internal discord in EU countries.

In Italy, the ruling coalition is divided between Salvini's League, which strongly supports Trump, and the Brothers of Italy and Forza Italia, which are more cautious.

In Spain, Vox party leader Santiago Abascal's criticism of Europe's reluctance to back Trump's peace plan jarred with former secretary general and party co-founder Javier Ortega Smith's remarks on Onda Cero radio before the White House row.

"If Trump decides to turn his back on a European country like Ukraine and divide its borders and make so-called peace agreements without taking into account (this) aggrieved nation, we cannot agree with Trump," Ortega Smith said.